


Signs of evil

by angelsong87



Series: Love, pain, and x files [3]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-12 14:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7109401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsong87/pseuds/angelsong87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 3 of my series, this story deals with Donny Pfasters escape from prison and the emotional disconnect it leaves Scully in. how will Mulder deal with his lover in danger?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

_Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with swaths of gold fabric draped along the walls. The room was imbued with the light of a thousand candles, and a scent of decadence and sandalwood drifted through the air. She was standing in front of a large mirror that hung the length of the wall. She could see beautiful men and women dancing in the reflection. Her eyes caught sight of a stunning woman, she was dressed in an emerald floor length gown made of satin or silk. Roses made from green lace hung around her shoulders and breasts. Her hair was swept up into a mass fiery red curls, a single diamond pin could be seen on the side. The woman’s hands were covered in white gloves that trailed up her arms to her elbows. She was perfect. A man walked up behind the beautiful woman, he placed a kiss at the woman’s throat. She turned, the woman was her. The man took her by the arm and led her to the dance floor. His hair was longer than she remembered, and he looked different in his suit. More refined than she was used to. But as he led her in the dance she let herself gaze into his eyes, his ever changing eyes. She knew them well, every flicker of gold. The way they shifted into green at the edges, the same green as her dress she noted. Those eyes could be deceiving, telling only what he wanted her to see, and always hiding the deeper reasons. They could change at a moment’s notice, leaving her breathless in wonder. But tonight his eyes told a different story. As they moved around the floor swaying to the music, his eyes spoke only of love. He stopped dancing and pulled her aside._

_“Yes?” she asked, waiting for the words she never knew she longed for._

_“Scully, I.”_

_He stopped suddenly and pulled a feather out of his pocket, he brought it up to her nose and started tickling her with it. She swatted the feather away wanting to hear what he was about to tell her, but he kept bringing it back to her face. She felt her eyes start to itch and she knew what would happen next._

Feb23 2000 8:30 AM

Scully let out a sneeze and rolled over in the bed opening her eyes. What the hell? Before she had a chance to figure out where she was and what was happening Charlie jumped on the bed next to her. “Happy Birthday!” He shouted in her ear.

She pushed herself upright and tried to clear the veil of sleep from her eyes. “What?” She asked stupidly blinking at her brother.

“God your slow in the morning, it’s your birthday. Wake up I want to celebrate.” He said lightly shaking her.

“Charlie, what the hell are you doing?” She asked looking at the alarm clock that she had expected to wake her this morning. “Shit, Charlie its 8:30 I’m late.” She jumped out of her bed and rushed to the closet looking to throw on the first thing she came to. I can’t believe I’m late on my birthday. What a great start to the day, she thought sarcastically.

Charlie was lounging on her bed seeming nonplussed at his sister’s panicked rush. “It’s fine, you have the day off.” He said casually plucking the floral comforter.

“What?” She turned to him furious, first he woke her up, then he waited until she was already getting ready to tell her she isn’t working, and how the fuck does he know that she has the day off? She didn’t ask for it, what did he think he was playing at? He know she hates surprises.

“Before you get all huffy at me, there’s a pot of coffee brewing in the kitchen. Have some of that, and then you can scream at me.” He said jumping off the bed and pulling her from the room.

They sat on the benches in the kitchen drinking coffee until she had calmed down enough to ask him. “How did you organise getting me the day off?”

“Oh, I rang Mulder.” He said taking a sip of his over sugared coffee.

“You did what? When? You don’t even have his number.” Her mind was reeling, how dare he call Mulder to ask his permission for her to have the day off. How dare he give it.

“I rang him from your phone last week when you were in the shower.” He could see the rage peeking out from his sisters wide eyes. “Dana, I was trying to do something nice, please? This is the first birthday I have got to see you on in almost ten years.”

That took the wind out of her sails a bit, she tried to see things from his perspective. He had been very much on the sidelines of their entire family’s life for a long time. It made sense that he wanted to enjoy her birthday this much. She took a calming breath. “Thank you Charlie, I do appreciate it, I just don’t really react well to surprises. I’m sorry, but you should know, it was inappropriate of you to ask Mulder for me to have the day off.”

“I didn’t ask him to let you have the day off, I asked him to help plan the surprise.” He said plainly.

“Oh.” She felt like such an idiot, it had always been so important to her that she wasn’t treated like a lesser just because she was a woman. It hadn’t occurred to her that both her brother and her partner never had. “So what’s the surprise?” She asked.

“Well, finish your coffee because we are going shopping. I am so sick of seeing you in black all the time. And it’s all my treat.” He said waving his wallet at her.

“Okay.” She said smiling. “But you are not buying me everything, there is nothing wrong with my clothes.”

He just rolled his eyes.

****

Mulder had been agonizing over what to get Scully for her birthday ever since he received a surprise call from Charlie last week. He wandered around the mall aimlessly, going over the gifts he had given her in the past. There was that Apollo eleven key chain he had given her a few years back, but she didn’t even like space travel. What else? Countless sporting videos that he saw she had dutifully kept on a shelf in her home, he doubted that she ever watched any of them. There was that book, but that was a one of a kind moment of luck that was surely never to be repeated.

Damn it, what did Scully like? How could he not know this after everything they had been through? He threw his hands up in the air and cursed loudly, fellow shoppers gave him looks and stepped away from him. He ignored them. Okay Mulder, think! He told himself. Break it down, what does she like.

Well, she liked the quiet. She preferred books over movies, and when she did watch movies she liked the classics. She liked being alone. She wasn’t one to wear jewellery, or fuss over expensive items. She was caring, she’d cared for him for many years. She always put others needs before her own. She listens, she always knows what to say to make him feel better. She has the softest skin he has ever felt, and the bluest eyes he had ever seen.

He shook his head, he was getting of topic again. What should he buy her? He looked at his watch He was meeting Scully and Charlie for lunch in an hour here. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind, suddenly he started walking with determination, headed in a direction of purpose, for what he still hadn’t figured out. But then, there it was, on a tiny stand outside the food court. The second he laid eye on it he knew it was perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

Feb 23 2000 1:00 PM

Scully and Charlie headed down to the café in the mall. She had so many bags in her hands she could barely hold them, Charlie was the same. She smiled as they entered the café and she saw Mulder sitting at a table nursing a coffee.

“Hey.” She said as she walked up to him.

Mulder took in the Scully siblings, they must have at least twenty bags each. “Wow Scully, did you buy out the whole mall?” He teased.

She was in too good of a mood to snap at him like she normally would so she just stuck out her tongue and sat down, arranging the bags at her feet. “There not all for her you know.” Said Charlie, taking the vacant seat. “Washington has nothing on New York for fashion, but they’re not half bad.”

Scully blushed, she knew that only three of the bags were Charlie’s. Although he had a great eye for clothes, he never really cared much for what he wore himself. A waitress walked up and took their order.

Mulder couldn’t stop looking at her, she looked radiant. He knew Charlie must have spent a great deal on her, even though she had her savings, he knew that she couldn’t afford this much of a shopping spree on a G-woman’s salary. He glanced and the younger man trying to express his gratitude for making her so happy with his eyes. Charlie nodded in response. “Well, I can’t buy you fifteen pairs of shoes, but I did get you a small present.” He said and lifted the light blue gift bag up to put on the table.

Scully examined the bag, it was about A3 sized and the top was stapled shut, knowing Mulder it could have anything in it. She lifted her eyes to his silently asking if it’s safe to open in a crowded café. He gave her the tiniest of nods and she pulled open the bag. Inside was a Bonsai tree and tools to trim and care for it. As well as a book on how to care for your Bonsai. It was so unbelievably thoughtful.

She loved plants but had given up on keeping any in her apartment a long time ago, it was frustrating to go away on a long case and come back to a house of dead plants. But Bonsai trees require very little care as long as they were watered properly. “Thank you Mulder, I love it.” She smiled at him. All she wanted to do was reach out and hold his hand, but that was impossible.

Mulder smiled back at her, wishing he could touch her. “Better than a key chain?” he asked. She laughed and explained the previous gift to a quizzical Charlie.

She sat back in her chair as the boy’s got talking about the differences between a satchel and a man purse, laughing at their debate. Mulder insisted that when a man carried a bag it was a satchel, whereas Charlie was trying to convince them that it was a man purse. The whole debate was so silly to her that she thought it didn’t warrant her opinion. She loved that her boys got along, especially now that Charlie knew she and Mulder were more than partners. He had been making more of an effort to include Mulder in activities, even inviting him over to play cards one night. She still hadn’t spent the night at Mulders since Charlie found out, she hadn’t even told him that he knew. She wasn’t sure why she decided not to tell Mulder, maybe it’s because if people knew about them it was real, and she still didn’t believe that yet.

The boys moved on to safer toping during the meal, their favourite sporting teams and why, Scully could join in on this one, having grown up in a family that loved football she had kept up to date on the who’s who.

It was nearly 3:00 PM when they finally left the café, Charlie pointing out that they still needed to get their nails done. “That’s definitely my cue to go.” Declared Mulder. “Happy Birthday Scully.” He said to her seriously, before heading out of the mall.

“Come on.” Called Charlie dragging her over to the nail salon. She ordered a buff and polish never really being one of those girls who wore nail varnish. But it was still nice to have someone else taking care of her cuticles for once. Charlie and gone for the full pedicure treatment and when she looked over at him she saw he had his toenails painted a bright turquoise.

She laughed. “What’s the point in that?” She asked.

“It’s my favourite colour, and I like to feel pretty sometimes so shut up.” He teased. It was true, he loved going in to a high pressure meeting with his clients spouse and their lawyers knowing that he had varnish on his feet. It made him feel like he had a secret.

After the nail salon they made the short trip back to the apartment, dumping all the bags in a pile on the floor. Charlie made coffee and she started going through the bags while it cooled. After she finished unpacking she looked at her haul, she almost had a completely new wardrobe. Suddenly the high from the spree wore off and she started to think about how much he had spent on her. She had only managed to pay for one item, a new pair of sensible heels for work, and that was only because Charlie had declared them hideous and refused to get them for her. She looked at the piles, he must have spent thousands. “Charlie, this is too much. Thank you for everything but I can’t accept all this. We’ll have to return it.”

Charlie looked shocked. “We will do no such thing. I finally get to spoil my tiny sister and she wants to return it?” He shook his head.

“But Charlie, you must have spent over a thousand dollars on me.” Argued Scully, feeling guilty.

“And I make that much in a week sometimes, Dana, its fine.” He reassured her, pulling her to her feet. “Besides, I will not be responsible for you looking hideous.” He joked.

“If you think she looks hideous now, you should have seen her four years ago.” Called a voice from the door.

Scully turned and saw her best friend Ellen leaning on the door frame. “Oh my god!” She cried running over to hug her. Ellen and Tom moved away to Philadelphia a few years ago so Scully hardly ever saw her friend anymore. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m the other half of your surprise,” Said Ellen.

Scully let go of her friend and ran over to her Brother and hugged him crying. She had never particularly enjoyed her birthdays in the past. Usually choosing to ignore them, this would go down in history as the best birthday she’d ever had. She turned to Ellen and noticed the suitcase. “How long are you staying?” She asked.

“Till Sunday if you’ll have me.” She replied.

Scully through a glance at Charlie. “There’s fresh sheets on the bed and I am on the couch.” He answered. “I’ll go put away your new clothes and let you two catch up.” He gathered up all of the day purchases and headed into Scully’s room, she knew he would probably be in there a while, he and Ellen got on fine most of the time, but they butted heads occasionally.

“So, what’s new? Tell me everything!” Said Ellen walking in to the kitchen to pour herself a coffee.

“Oh, you know me, same old, same old. Nothing changes.” Replied Scully taking a sip from her cooled coffee.

“You still working with that jerk who’s obsessed with his work?” She teased.

“Yes, I’m still working with Mulder, he’s not a jerk.” Sighed Scully. Ellen had been calling Mulder the workaholic jerk for seven years now, ever since her son Trent’s birthday party when Scully had whined about her love life or lack there off, and Mulder.

“Uh huh, is he still cute?” Asked Ellen coyly.

“Why, you and Tom on the rocks?” She retorted.

“Come on Dana, I’ve been married for fifteen years! Let me live vicariously though you. All I have to work with at home is a sullen fourteen year old and a nine year old who thinks she knows everything.”

Scully sighed. “I don’ know what you want me to tell you, I haven’t been on a date in years.”

“So, you mean to tell me that in the last seven years you haven’t had anyone?” Said Ellen incredulously.

“No, of course not. I’m not a nun.” Replied Scully.

“So……. Did you and Mulder ever hook up?” Scully rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, some late night stake out that got a bit too boring, or an after work drink that turned into a few too many and ended in a cab ride with a show?”

“Ellen!” Cried Scully her cheeks going red.

“Never?” Pressed Ellen.

Scully looked away, hoping her friend wouldn’t notice how bad of a liar she was. “Nope.”

Ellen looked at her best friend whose face was starting to match her hair colour. “Dana Scully you are a terrible liar, no wonder you haven been returning my calls, what happened?” Scully just looked at her. “When?”

“New Year’s.” She replied.

“Oooh, I want details! Actually scratch that, go get changed. We are going out for a drink you can tell me everything there.” Said Ellen dragging her friend up the hall.

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

March 7 2000 6:05 AM

Scully woke with a start. She had felt something brush across her face, she sat up and looked around for the cause. She had left her windows open and a strong wind was hissing through the curtains. She got up to close the windows wondering what time it was. The sun hadn’t risen yet and she hoped she could go back to sleep. She glanced at her alarm clock, 6:66 it read. She moved over to pick it up, and tried to reassure herself that it was the wind that made her shiver. She turned the clock over in her hands, rationalising that it must be a fault. All of a sudden it switched off. She shook it, it must be broken she thought. Then suddenly it and all the lights in the room turned on. For a second she thought perhaps Charlie had come into the room and hit the switch, but there was no one there. How strange, she thought. The clock seemed to be working just fine now. She blinked the sleep from her eyes, there would be no going back to sleep now. Besides she had to get up in an hour for work anyway.

She shuffled out to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee rubbing her head. She could feel a headache forming behind her temples. After pouring herself a cup and setting it on the bench to cool she decided to start her morning rituals early, hopefully she will have enough time then to run down to the pharmacy before work to pick up some Tylenol. She still hadn’t replenished her stock at home since the inevitable hangover she had endured when Ellen had visited for her birthday.

After hopping out of the shower and getting dressed, she headed back to the kitchen to drink her now perfect coffee. She was surprised to see Charlie up and out of bed so early, he was a worse morning person than she was. “Did I wake you?” She asked grabbing her cup and taking a sip.

“No, I was up already. I have an eight o’clock flight actually.” He replied taking a sip of his own coffee.

Scully’s brow furrowed. “A flight? Where are you going?” Had he told her he was going somewhere. She didn’t think so.

Charlie looked up from his coffee guiltily. “Ah, New York. I have the week off work and I thought I would go and pick up my things.”

“Why didn’t you tell me Charlie? I would have gone with you. You shouldn’t have to see Jason and Dick alone.” She said annoyed. It was just so typical of him to keep this from her, he was more like her than she thought.

“Vic.” He corrected. “His name is Vic, and I won’t be alone, I’m staying with some old work friends and they have agreed to help me.” She tried not to feel insulted that he asked work colleagues for help before her. “Don’t look at me like that, they wanted to throw me a going away party anyway. One last hurrah in New York. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“How long will you be gone?” She asked, she was getting used to having someone at the house with her all the time. Especially since Charlie had begun working now so she still got some quiet time occasionally.

“A week, I’m hiring a moving van and driving it back down, I already organised a storage shed.” He said.

“Alright, but I’m driving you to the airport, no arguments.” She replied shaking her head at him.

A whole week without Charlie, she thought. I can have Mulder over. They had been able to spend more time together outside of work now that Charlie knew about them, but she had been careful not to allow herself to spend too much time with him. It was too easy to forget about all her worries when she stayed at Mulders house, too easy to pretend that they were a real couple. We could never be a couple, she reminded herself, we don’t have a future.

But still, it would be nice to have him over at her place for once. She felt more in control of herself and her feelings here. She walked over to her coat and pulled out her cell phone to call and tell him that she would be a little late into work today.

“Hey Scully.” He answered with a laugh. “I was just about to call you.”

“You were?” She asked surprised.

“Yeah, Skinner just called me, we have been asked to advise on a case out in Marion Illinios. I was going to ask you to meet me at the airport.”

She laughed, “I was calling you to tell you I would be late to work because I have to drop Charlie off at the airport.”

“Huh, must be fate. So I’ll meet you there?” He replied.

“Sure, see you there.”

****

Mulder hung up the phone and groaned, why didn’t he just tell her about the case! Screw that, why didn’t he just go by himself? He knew why, because she would kill him if she found out that he had ditched her again, especially on this case. Donny Pfaster, it had to be him. The last time they had dealt with that psycho she had nearly been killed. Mulder had never seen her fall apart like that, not when she had cancer, not when she was abducted, not even when Melissa was killed. This guy had gotten under her skin further than any other case.

He should have told her, he should have told her and let her decide on her own whether or not to come. He sighed and went to pack a bag, he would tell her at the airport. Hopefully she would go home and let him deal with it.

He still hadn’t worked out how to tell her when he arrived at the airport an hour later. Case file in hand he wandered up to the check in desk. She was standing to one side waiting for him. Usually when he first caught sight of her his stomach would do backflips, today it felt like lead. “Hey Scully, did Charlie get off ok? Where’s he going anyway?”

“Hey, yeah, he’s off to New York for a week to get his stuff and say good bye to some old friends.” She replied smiling at him. He didn’t smile back. He looked strange, she thought. Something was off. “What’s the matter Mulder?” She asked. “Is it the case?”

Damn she was perceptive, he cursed. He looked into her inquiring blue eyes. “Yeah.” He said and handed her the case file. She flipped open the jacket and he watched as the blood drained from her face.

“What is this?” She asked snapping the file shut without reading it, all she needed to see was the large photo inside to know what this was about.

“Donny Pfaster escaped from prison this morning, and we’ve been asked to consult with the local task force on how.” He said quietly looking at his feet.

“Do they want us to find him?” She snapped. Immediately she felt terrible, she looked up to see the hurt on his face and admonished herself. Keep it together Dana, she told herself.

“No, they just want us to help figure out how he got out.” He replied.

She sighed and rubbed her temples, she had forgotten to go to the drug store before she came here and now her head was throbbing. “Okay, let’s go do what we have to do.” She said regaining her composure.

He nodded and walked over to collect their tickets. She stood there trying to build up the courage to get on the plane and go see where that vile creature lived. She refused to think of him as a man, he was a monster. It had taken her months to get over the nightmares she had from their last meeting. Her throat was dry and her breakfast was sitting uncomfortably in her stomach. Unlike every other monster, or wack job they had dealt with before on the X files Donny Pfaster scared her. She had looked into his eyes when he held her bound in the closet and she saw the devil.

She mentally shook herself, she would not be that weak little girl who couldn’t get away. She was stronger now. She would not let herself fall apart because of him. She walked over to Mulder as he grabbed the tickets. She didn’t say anything, worried her voice would betray her. But she stayed close as they walked to the gate.


	4. Chapter 4

 

March 7 2000 11:30 AM

Mulder glanced over at his partner as he parked the rental car outside the prison. She hadn’t spoken much since he told her about the case and had picked at her lunch rather than actually eat. She looked a little pale, and smaller than usual. But she had a look of sheer determination on her face that made his heart soar. He knew how strong she was, he’d seen her strength many times. It was strange how all he wanted now, was for her to show him her weaknesses. He hated that she was still not comfortable enough to share with him. He wished he could just pick her up and hold her, running his fingers through her hair and whisper to her that he would take care of her. But Scully didn’t need anyone to look after her, she took care of him. He sighed and looked into her eyes. “You ready?” He asked her.

She nodded, and they got out of the car and headed for the security gate. It had been a long couple of hours for her, but she felt like she was in control. It helped that Pfaster wasn’t going to be there. Just get in, do the consult and get out. She repeated to herself.

They were directed by a guard to the work room. They followed as he escorted them there, she was thankful she wouldn’t have to see Pfasters cell. When they walked it they were greeted by a team of US Marshals, who had been assigned to track down the inmate. After a quick exchange of badges and introductions the lead Marshal, a man by the name of Perkins jumped straight into it.

“Life without a chance of parole, for the premeditated and sadistic sexual murders of five twin cities women in 1994, Donald Addie Pfaster.” He said handing Scully his copy of the case file.

She didn’t want to look at it again, especially not here, in a room filled with officers. She walked over to the side hoping no one would notice how green she looked.

“You two put this man away.” Finished Perkins.

“Yeah.” Said Mulder quietly. He turned to watch Scully as she walked past him. He still felt like dirt for bringing her in the first place. “Someone forgot to throw away the key.” He said turning back to the Marshal.

“Yeah well, that’s another story, right now we have to apprehend this man. We’d use all the help you can give us in understanding exactly who it is we’re after.” Replied Perkins.

Scully had opened the file and was staring at the large black and white image of Pfaster. She swallowed, I can do this, he is just a man. She thought to herself.

“Donnie Pfaster is a death fetishist, a collector of bone and dead flesh, of toenails and hair. It’s what floats his boat, gets him off.” Said Mulder.

“He’s a sick man.” Stated Perkins.

“Sick would describe him, we found women’s fingers in his freezer. He liked to eat them with his peas and carrots.” Replied Mulder. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted them. Why did he always have to make jokes when things became uncomfortable? He tried to look back at Scully but she had her back to him.

She felt sick hearing Mulders words, her fingers, if he got the chance, if Mulder hadn’t got there in time. There would have been her fingers in the freezer.

“So it’s just women he’s after?” Enquired Perkins.

“Just women.” Agreed Mulder. “Been five years in here thinking about only that, I’m sure he’s worked up quite an appetite.”

“I happen to know you two agents have a particular forte.” Said Perkins “A thing for, what’s it called? The supernatural?” Mulder grimaced at the man, I guess we have a reputation everywhere, he thought. “Now the circumstances of the escape….” Continued Perkins.

“I promise you there is nothing supernatural about this man.” Said Scully, finally composed enough to speak, she walked over to the Marshal and handed back the file. “Donnie Pfaster is just plain evil.” And with that she walked out.

She felt dirty all over, that deep kind of dirty that no amount of washing could remove. She wandered down the hall and saw a sign that said chapel. Without knowing why she headed towards the door and opened it. It was a basic sort of room, pipes exposed in the ceiling. There was scripture written directly on the walls in black paint and a simple wooden cross nailed to the far wall. Plain wooden chairs were stacked up against another wall, and she noticed a security camera in the corner mounted on the wall. She wondered why she had come in here. She was about to turn around when she heard it, coming faintly out of the air-conditioning vent. It was music. _Don’t look any further, someone to count on._ She recognised the song, Dennis Edwards. She remembered the last time she had heard it. She had just been a child, but when her mother had told her about her Sunday school teacher, that he had been gun down in his front yard, she had realised what the world was really like.

“Case closed.” Said Mulder, of course he came to find her. “You didn’t look at the file, did you?” He said still keeping his distance. He thought if she read the file she could keep her mind on the facts, not the person.

“A man escaped from prison.” She said bluntly.

“Not a man. Donnie Pfaster, and he didn’t just escape, he walked out. He walked out of a maximum security facility and no one seems to know how he did it.” He walked around the room pretending he was reading the scripture on the wall and not looking at her.

“Isn’t that why we’re here?” She asked. That’s what he had told her.

“That’s why I’m here.” He said walking towards her. “I don’t know about you. Why are you here?” he stopped a footstep away from her and studied her face. She broke his eye contact. She was here to prove that she was strong enough to handle it. But right now, she didn’t feel strong. “Go home, Scully.” He asked her.

“Mulder, this case doesn’t bother me.” She lied.

“The man abducted you. Donnie Pfaster did a number on your head like I’ve never seen, and its okay to walk away.” He could see how much she was hurting. Please let me take care of this for you, he begged with his eyes.

“Mulder, that man does things to people that no one should ever have to think about.” But I do every day she added silently. “it’s not a question of if I should stay, I don’t have a choice.”

He stared at her, watching as those walls he had helped pull down were erected once again, a hundred foot higher. “So, let’s get to work.” She said.

“Well, this isn’t the first incident. Two prisoners have escaped from maximum security facilities in neighbouring states over the past year. At 6:06 this morning Donnie Pfaster made it three.”

6:06? That was the time I woke up this morning, she thought, remembering the strange circumstances surrounding her early morning. “6:06?” She confirmed. She told herself it was just a coincidence. “And what’s so supernatural about that?” she asked.

“Dozens of witnesses, guards and staff, and no one seems to remember anything. For a while they didn’t even know these guys were missing.”

“Have they been apprehended?” She asked. She was the model of professional now.

“No, neither of the men have ever been seen again.” he said sadly. It was like he was talking to the Scully of four years ago, the one who never shared anything not case related.

“So where do we start?” She asked.

“Well, there was an incident regarding a fellow inmate this morning, right before Pfasters disappearance. I think we should start there.”

They walked out of the room, he was careful to keep an appropriate distance from her. He knew he wouldn’t get his Scully back until this case was resolved.

He must have set up the interview before he came and found me, Scully thought. Because the Marshals were already organizing the interview room when they met back up in the work room. She could hear some of the men commenting on her as she walked past. Ice queen they called her. Someone made a joke that Mr and Mrs Spooky must be fighting. She didn’t care she held her head high and walked into the interview room to wait for the inmate to arrive. Mulder was right behind her.

He came in wearing cuffs the kind that connected at the feet as well, they’re not taking any more chances, she thought. The guard pushed him roughly to the chair and he sat down. She moved to stand by the window as Mulder sat in the chair opposite the man.

“I already told the warden everything I know.” Said the inmate, staring down Mulder. “Everything I saw that day.”

“Yes but I’m still a little confused. Maybe you could go over it again.” He replied, trying to make the prisoner comfortable with him.

The inmate sighed. “I’m a Christian man.” He said to Mulder.

“Then I know you’ll tell me the truth.” Replied Mulder smiling at the man.

“Yeah. But I got no idea about Donnie Pfaster.” He said turning to stare at Scully. “Or how he broke out.”

“You and Donnie were in the garment shop.” Said Mulder, pulling the man’s attention away from his partner. “At or about the time he disappeared.”

“Well, it wasn’t just me. I mean, there were a lot of us in the shop.” Argued the inmate.

“Yeah but you had something happen. You had an incident.”

“Yeah.” Said the man nodding. “Something like that.”

“You cried out to the guards that you’d cut your hands.” Led Mulder.

“My fingers man, I saw them all cut off.” He said holding up his perfectly intact hands.

“Others saw them too.” Said Mulder, he had already read over the reports from the guards. The man claimed to have his fingers chopped off by a piece of machinery. The guards had confirmed witnessing it.

“No, but I felt them cut off.” Said the man.

“How do you explain that?” He asked.

The man smiled and a serene expression came over his face. “God works in mysterious ways, brother.” His voice had change, dropped an octave. Like he was mimicking someone else’s words.

Mulder had a thought, he’d heard about mass hypnotism before. He couldn’t be sure yet, but it would explain how this man had seen and felt his fingers cut off when they were clearly still attached to his hands. There was one way to find out.

He raised his hand palm up. “Glory” Said the man. Mulder lowered his hand “Amen.” Said the inmate. Mulder tried it again. “Glory….. Amen.”

Scully looked at the prisoners feet as Mulder tried it for a third time, when Mulders hand came up, so did the inmate’s right foot. When he lowered his hand the man lowered his foot.

Mulder smiled, he was certain, this inmate had been hypnotised. “Thank you that will be all.” He said and the guard walked over to remove the inmate.

He got up to leave the room and Scully followed him. When they got into the hall she asked “Mulder, what was that?”

“Post hypnotic suggestion, did you see him?” He replied.

“You mean did I see him raise his foot?” She asked. “Yes, I saw that.”

“A programmed behaviour prompted and manifested by suggestion, in this case a rhythmic motion of the hands.” He said demonstrating the motion to her. “Producing an unconscious act in a conscious state.” He continued to do the motion to her. “Doesn’t work on you.” He joked.

She let out a smile. “I know what hypnosis is Mulder.” She said flatly.

“Group hypnosis.” He corrected.

“If you’re suggesting that Donnie Pfaster escaped from prison using a technique from a Vegas lounge act, I’d think again. She certainly wasn’t in the mood to deal with one of his far out theories today. She just wanted to figure this out so she could go home.

“Mesmer was able to hypnotise and command entire audiences.” He argued.

“So, how would Donnie Pfaster have acquired this amazing ability?” She asked, failing to keep the sarcasm from her voice.

“I’m not saying that it was Donnie.” He replied. He was trying not to be offended by Scully’s attitude. He knew it was because of the case and not because of him.

“Well then, who?” She asked.

“Three inmates are missing from three separate prisons. One man has had possible contact with each of those cons. The prison chaplain.” He surmised “Glory, amen.” He mimicked.

But she wasn’t listening anymore, she could hear that song again. She looked up to see where it was coming from. Mulder mistook her upturned face as her looking up to the heavens. “Not God. The chaplain.” He corrected. He looked up to where she was staring, and saw an air vent. “Scully, What?” he asked her.

“That song. Can you hear that? She asked and moved closer to the vent to listen.

He moved over next to her. “Barely.”

“I haven’t hear that song since high school. That’s the second time I’ve heard it in the last hour.” She said, her mind going back to the last time she heard it.

“Well, I think if it was a make out song, I think it would be ruined forever now, huh?” he flirted. But she didn’t notice. “Come on, let’s go find our preacher man.” He said walking her out to the door.

He headed over to the Marshals that were still in the workshop. “Perkins, what do we know about the prison chaplain?”

“Ah, nothing. Is it important?” Asked the man.

“Three inmates from three facilities go missing in strange or unusual circumstances, yes I would say the man that has ties to them all would be important.” Replied Mulder dryly. “Find out what you can and report back to us.” He said and handed over his card.

The Marshal nodded taking it. He called over one of his men and handed him the card. “We’ll find out what we can.” Said Perkins.

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

March 7 2000 4:23 PM

She had shut herself in her hotel room the minute they had got there, and had laid on the bed. The headache she had been suffering from earlier had turned into a full blown migraine. Eventually Mulder had knocked on the door to check on her, she had shouted that she had a headache and told him to leave her alone. He had, until now. She had just managed to drift into a fitful sleep when she felt someone rubbing her back. She jumped up off the still made bed and looked around for her service weapon. She saw an embarrassed looking Mulder standing next to the bed with his hands up.

“Mulder? What are you doing?” She asked confused.

“I’m sorry, you told me you had a headache so I went out and got you some Tylenol. You didn’t answer when I knocked-“

“So, what you just broke in?” She asked eyebrow raising.

He looked at her guiltily and shrugged.

Her voice raised as she told him. “Mulder, that is unacceptable. This is my room, you don’t just break in whenever you feel like it.”

“I, I was just trying to take care of you.” He said quietly.

“I don’t need your help! I’m fine, can you please just leave?” She said, her head was pounding and she still couldn’t shake the images of her dream out of her mind.

“I’m sorry Scully.” He said looking down, he walked over to the door and out of the room.

As soon as he left she grabbed out her toiletries and headed to the bathroom. She turned the shower on full hot and pulled off her wrinkled clothes. The water was hot enough to redden her skin on contact but she didn’t care. She rested her forehead on the cool tile under the showerhead and let the water run down the back of her neck. Then she let it all out, all of the pain, hurt and rage that she had been feeling all day dripped down her face in hot salty drops. Her breath wracked in her chest but she couldn’t stop. Not until it was all gone. For a long time she stood there and cried.

****

He sat on the end of his bed listening, not long ago he heard her turn the shower off. That had been one of the hardest moments of his life, listening to his partner, the love of his life, as she wept. He could feel the pain and fear in her cries and all he wanted to do was burst in there and hold her. But she wanted him gone, even now when everything was different, she didn’t want to let him in. Why? He was so thankful when he heard her stop. It was quiet now, he wasn’t sure if she had gone back to sleep or if she was just sitting in the room like him, doing nothing. His stomach started to growl, he wondered if she was hungry. She had barely eaten all day, she should probably eat something.

He got up and paced around the room trying to build up the determination to knock on her door. She probably didn’t want to see him. It was like being caught between a rock and a hard place. Fuck it, he thought and headed out the door, if she didn’t answer at least he had tried. Three steps was all it took to reach her motel door. He took a deep breath and knocked. A few moments later she opened the door. Her hair was wet and dripped on her shoulders, which was covered in a fluffy bathrobe. Her eyes were puffy, but that was to be expected. Her skin looked hot and red. Mulder stifled an urge to reach out and touch her.

“Hey Scully, I was going to order pizza. Do you want some?” He asked quietly.

She thought for a moment, her throat was raw from earlier and her stomach felt like lead, but since taking the pills Mulder had left there her headache was subsiding. She should eat she told herself. She cleared her throat. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

She didn’t say no, he thought happily, there was progress. “Okay, I’ll order delivery.” He smiled at her.

She smiled back weakly. She walked over to her purse and pulled out some money, Mulder waited in the open doorway. “Can you get some drinks please? From the vending machine?”

“Sure what do you want?” He asked her waiting for her to walk back, he still didn’t want to walk in to her room without her directly telling him he could.

“Something sweet.” She replied, knowing she could probably use the sugar.

He nodded and left closing the door as he went. She headed over to her case and pulled out her pyjamas. They were the long flannel type that she liked, Charlie must have put them in the dryer when he did the washing because they felt extra soft and comforting. She heard a knock on the door and walked back to let Mulder in.

“Pizza should be here in fifteen.” He said handing her a can of grape soda. He then waited in the doorway.

She sighed. “You can come in Mulder.” He smiled and walked in sitting down by the little table under the window. “I’m sorry about before, you just startled me.”

“No, you were right Scully, I never should have presumed so much.” He said shaking his head at her.

She sat on the bed facing him, it was further away than the other chair, but she liked it like that. The more distance between us the easier it is to lie to him, she though. “Thank you for the Tylenol.”

He waved his hand. “What are friends for?” he said lightly.

They sat there awkwardly for some time. Mulder finally broke the silence. “So, is you headache better?” He enquired.

“Yes thank you, have you had any word from Perkins yet about the chaplain?” She replied.

He shook his head. “No, nothing. I was hoping to get a call tonight, but it looks like it’s going to be the morning now.”

Back to awkward silence. Fortunately the silence didn’t last long as the pizza man arrived. Mulder went and paid the man, tipping him for being so prompt. He walked over to the bed opening the box so that she could grab out a slice without having to move, and then headed back to his spot by the table.

After taking a few bites, and making sure she was eating too he turned to her. “Did I ever tell you about the time I met the gunmen?” He asked.

“No, I don’t believe you have.” She replied, she had never really thought about it. She had just always known they were there. She was sure the story would be full of conspiracies and danger so she got up and grabbed another slice before he started.

“Oh, you are going to love this.” He said smiling.


	6. Chapter 6

 

March 8 2000 12:02 AM

The next morning they slept late, they had been up until very late swapping funny stories and laughing until Scully had finally kicked Mulder out citing a need for sleep. He had left smiling glad that he had been able to make her laugh and hoping that the new day would bring a happier Scully for him.

But unfortunately that wasn’t the case, she had slept poorly. On more than one occasion after waking up from a nightmare she had thought about knocking on his door and crawling into bed with him. But she hadn’t, despite everything, she still didn’t feel comfortable letting him see he falter. So when Mulder knocked on her door that morning at 10:00 AM she had been annoyed at the awakening. Fortunately for him, he had come with coffee in hand and within twenty minutes he had an alert Scully on his hands. They had spent the morning checking out the scenery in Marion, stopping to have lunch in a local diner. It was there that Mulder received the call.

“Hello?” He said answering the phone.

“Agent Mulder?” Said an unfamiliar voice.

“Speaking.” He replied.

Scully looked over to him with interest, who is it she mouthed. He gave her a shrug in reply and she reached over the table to pinch some of his fries while he was distracted.

“Hi it’s Deputy Harris from the U.S Marshals office. I’m calling to inform you that there has been a sighting of your suspect at the Marion Greyhound Bus Depot on Main Street.”

He waved and Scully and motioned to finish up. “When?” he asked

“Not ten minutes ago.” Replied the Deputy. “Our men should already be there.”

“We’re on our way.” Said Mulder and hung up the phone.

“What is it?” Asked Scully.

“They’ve found him.” He replied sliding out of the booth.

Her blood ran cold, could this really be over? She slid out after him, steeling herself to the idea that in fifteen minutes she could be staring into the face of evil, again. As they got into the car and headed for the bus stop she felt a shiver run up her spine.

She was staring ahead blankly, he worried that all the work he had put in to making her feel better last night and today would be ruined. He needed to reassure her that he was still there for her.

He reached across to grab her hand. She flinched when he touched her. She didn’t mean to, she just couldn’t stop thinking about Pfaster. And what he had tried to do to her. Every time she closed her eyes she could see him. Her hands were bound and he had put a gag in her mouth. He was on top of her, and he was going to hurt her, and she couldn’t do anything to stop him. She felt bile in the back of her throat and swallowed roughly. Mulder had removed his hand when she flinched and it was now resting on the gear stick of the car. She wanted to reach out and hold it, but she was afraid. Afraid that he would look at her and ask her if she was ok. For once if he asked she wouldn’t say she was fine. She would tell him everything, and then he would see her for what she was. Weak, and in their line of work, weak meant useless. So instead she sat, like a rock, and let him ignore her.

They pulled over at the depot, in front of a diner. She let him take the lead as they walked inside. Perkins was sitting in one of the booths, he looked tired and disorientated.

“Was he here?” Mulder asked him.

“Well, um… We’re trying to determine that.” He replied.

“Did you see him?” Asked Scully.

“Well, that’s a good question. We thought we saw something. But apparently we didn’t.” Said Perkins, his men lowered their heads in shame.

“We got a call about a possible sighting of the suspect.” Said Mulder. Perkins nodded still looking dazed. “Well something happened here, huh?”

“Guy got hit by a car.” Said the waitress and she brought Perkins a cup of coffee.

“Prison chaplain, it turns out. A reverend Orison, paramedics took him to the hospital, he’s in pretty bad shape.” Explained Perkins.

 _In a world ever changing, here I am stop._ It’s that song again, thought Scully. She turned and saw a radio on the bench near the waitress. “Excuse me, uh, could you turn that up, please?” The waitress pointed at the radio. “Yeah.” Confirmed Scully. _What you need is a lover, someone to take over, oh girl, don’t look any further._ This means something, she thought. Why am I hearing this song over and over?

“Scully?” Said Mulder bringing her out of her reverie.

She turned to look at him. “Huh?”

She looked strange, whatever her thoughts had been they were dark, thought Mulder. “I got the information on the hospital the Reverend is at, do you want to pay him a visit?” he asked tentatively.

She blinked. “Uh, Yeah. Let’s go.”

As they drove over to the hospital once again in silence, Mulder chanced a sidelong glance at his partner. She was staring out the window but her eyes had a glazed look about them that made him think she was miles away. He sighed and put his mind to the case at hand, the sooner this was over the sooner he would get her back. This Reverend Orison had to be their hypnotist, he just had to prove it. He wondered what the man was up to, it wasn’t a coincidence that they had been called to a sighting of Pfaster and the reverend was there. But being hit by a car? He figured that wasn’t part of the plan.

They pulled up at the hospital and got out. She shook her head and followed Mulder into the building. She had spent the car ride reliving her experience with Pfaster, over and over. The fear, the pain, the rage, it was all as fresh now as the day it happened. She had come to the same conclusion time and time again. She was weak, she was helpless, and she didn’t deserve to be here.

They were told to wait by the nurse, the Reverend was having some test done. So they sat in silence for hours while they waited for him to be brought back to his room. As the time went on she slipped further and further into her memories and nightmares. She remembered her teacher, the kind older man who had been killed in his front yard. Men like Donnie Pfaster killed him, evil beings who hurt and kill with no regard. She could still see the look on her mother’s face when she had told her. Emotions were always considered childish things to the Scully clan, but when her mother told her what had happened, she had cried. Not like she had done yesterday. But something in her broke that day, and it has never been repaired.

Mulder had been waiting patiently for the Reverend to arrive, when the man was finally wheeled into the room he stood up. The nurse walked out. “He’s awake now if you want to talk to him.” She said to them.

“Thank you.” He replied.

“Scully? Could you head in and look at the reverends chart, make sure he didn’t have any anomalies that couldn’t be explained by the car accident.” He asked.

“Sure.” She replied.

“Agent Mulder!” Called a man in a suit, jogging up to the pair. He held a file in his hand.

He turned and waited for the man. “I’ll be right there I just need to check somethings.” He nodded at the Marshal.

She nodded, he probably didn’t think she was good company right now, she thought. She just wished today never happened. It made her so angry, why were they even here? They had been asked to consult on the escape, they had done that. It’s not their job to find Pfaster, so why were they the only ones doing anything. She walked inside and grabbed the chart of the end of the bed where it was hanging and read it. The Reverend was awake and she knew she would have to talk to him.

“You’re lucky to be alive, Reverend Orison.” She said hanging the chart back up.

“Who are you?” The man asked.

“Special Agent Dana Scully.” She answered staring the man down.

“Believe in the Lord Agent Scully, He believes in you.” He said.

“That’s nice.” She replied sarcastically. She refused to show him any weakness, this man knew something and she was going to find out what. “But my partner and I are more concerned with several disappearances from maximum security facilities that seem to involve you.”

“Don’t be concerned.” He said serenely. “God has them.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, he said nothing. “Reverend?”

“You’re a believer, aren’t you?” He asked her changing the subject.

“This has nothing to do with me, sir.”

“It has everything to do with you. You have faith… you have _had_ faith. You hear him calling you, but you’re unsure what to do.” He said, his voice steady and melodic.

Scully reached out and pulled the golden cross she always wore on her neck out to better show him. “It’s not exactly a long shot, sir.” Sarcasm dripped from her final word.

“You stand, as you do now. Neither here nor there… longing, but afraid, waiting for a sign. But the signs are everywhere.”

You don’t know me, she thought. You have no idea how I feel about my faith. She could feel the heat of her anger rising to the surface, you will not pull me of topic. “What happened to the inmates, sir?”

“Everything has a reason, Scout. Everything on Gods earth. Every moment of every day, the Devil waits for but an instant. As it is, it has always been. The Devil’s instant is our eternity.

She swallowed hard. He had called her Scout, she hadn’t heard that name in years. Not since she was a child, how would he know that? Could God truly be talking through him? What would that mean? Was he talking to her? She was so confused. She heard the door open and turned to watch her partner stroll through the door.

“Good Reverend, how do you do? Or maybe I should say, how do you do it?” He said walking up to stand next to Scully.

“His is the word, I am but the messenger who delivers it.” Said the man of God.

“Well, this delivery arrived a little late.” He was fumbling with some files. “A little late, and a little cold.” He said pulling out a photo and handing it to the man. “I thought you would want to see it.”

It was a girl, she was in a bathtub surrounded by candles, but the water was bloody. The fingers of her right hand were gone, cut right down to the stump of her palm. Her hair was cut haphazardly down to the scalp at places. Scully tried not to look at the picture, she knew how Pfaster killed.

The preacher pushed the photo away. “What is this?”

“Blood of the lamb, Reverend. Handiwork of Mr Donnie Pfaster. A young girl he picked up at the bus stop.” Said Mulder.

“Oh, Lord.” Said the Reverend, he looked green.

“Where is he, Reverend?” He asked.

Orison looked to be struggling with what he had heard, he sighed. “He took my car, she wasn’t supposed to die.”

“No, Donnie was supposed to die.” Said Mulder, he understood why they had never found the other inmates. “You were supposed to kill him. That’s why you freed him. God knows you’re capable of it.” Scully looked at him curiously. “The Reverend Orison is really Robert Gailen Orison, convicted in 1959 of first degree murder. Served 22 years in Soldad.”

So that had been what Mulder was doing with the Marshal, she thought. She didn’t remember him asking anyone to get that information. Although she hadn’t left his side all day, she supposed it’s possible that he had made the call and she just hadn’t noticed. She had been out of it a lot lately.

“God spoke to me. He told me to look after Donnie.” Said the Reverend.

“When God spoke to you, Reverend. Did he happen to mention where Donnie was headed?” Asked Mulder.

The man bowed his head in shame. Mulder nodded, “I thought not.” He said and walked out.

Scully followed him out. “Where are you going, Mulder?” She called.

“To prove that man’s a liar.” He said turning to face her.

“How do you prove that somebody isn’t being directed by God?” She asked him and he pulled a face. “You don’t believe that it happens?”

“God is a spectator, Scully. He just reads the box scores.” He replied.

“I don’t believe that.” She said.

“You think God directs that man?” He asked incredulously. “You think he directs him to kill?”

“Donnie Pfaster isn’t dead, and we don’t know that the other inmates who escaped are dead either.”

“So, what? You think that God directs him to let the prisoners out to kill?” this was ridiculous, the fact that she was even entertaining the idea was laughable, he hoped she was just arguing for arguments sake.

“No, but I believe that the Reverend believes what he is saying. That it’s God working through him.” She said seriously.

He nodded, “Well, plenty of nut bags do.” He shot. He watched as her face fell. “Has he ever spoken to you?” He asked.

She stared at him. What was he implying? That she was a nut bag? “I’m trying not to take offence.” She said acidly.

“What did he say?” He asked seriously. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, if she believed in this she would have good reason.

She stared at him, trying to ascertain whether or not he was teasing her. His face only showed concern. This is going to sound crazy, she thought and took a deep breath. “Mulder, I have heard that song three times now. That may not mean anything to you, but it means something to me.”

“What does it mean?” He pressed.

“I never thought about it before. It never meant anything to me until yesterday, when it made me remember something.”

“What?”

She took another deep breath, it was not a happy memory and she still wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t think she was crazy. “When I was thirteen, my father was stationed in San Diego. I was listening to the radio, to that song, when my mother came in and told me that my Sunday school teacher had been killed.”

“Oh,” He said softly. That was a little spooky he thought.

“He had been murdered in his front yard.” She continued. “And that’s the first time that I ever felt that there was real evil in the world.” She paused, thinking about her teacher. “Mulder, Reverend Orison called me Scout. That’s the same name that my Sunday school teacher called me. Donnie Pfaster escaped from prison at 6:06 AM. That exactly the same time that I woke up yesterday when my power went out.” She felt insane, but it all made sense.

“So, what do you think that God is telling you?” He asked her. I don’t know, she thought. How am I supposed to decipher all that? She looked up at him incredulously. “Well, alright. Come with me Scout. I’ll show you how the Reverend talks to God.” He said reaching out for her arm to lead her to an exam room.

He had looked over Orisons test results while she had been talking to the man and had asked a nurse to set them up in the exam room so that he could show Scully.

“What are we doing here, Mulder?” She asked as he sat her down next to a computer screen.

He held up a finger with one hand and clicked on the mouse. And image appeared on the screen. “It’s a cerebral edema” He said pointing it out on screen.

“Swelling of the brain, a trauma not uncommon with this kind of head injury or accident.” She countered. This was strange, she thought. Her believing in the strange and supernatural, and him trying to disprove it with science. On any other case she would have found it hysterical, but with this one, nothing could ever be funny.

“Except this isn’t accidental. The cause, in fact, as it was stated to me, is self-inflicted. There’s a small hole, here in the skull.” He said pointing to it on the screen. “Which allows oxygen into the brain cavity, the result of which is the Reverend Orison has three times the normal blood volume pumping through his brain.”

“And he did this himself?” She said incredulously.

“Yeah. My guess is he probably did it when he first got into prison, when he first learned how to use its powers.”

And there it was, she thought. He could never manage to find a completely supernatural free explanation, regardless of how ridiculous it was. “Its powers?”

“There’s a theory, that at this point in human evolution our mental capacities are limited only by inadequate blood supply. In fact, centuries ago, in the Peruvian Andes, holy men used to physically remove parts of their skulls in order to increase blood volume, or drill small holes.”

Where did that theory come from? She wondered, it certainly wasn’t a medical journal, and how where we to know why holy men from hundreds of years ago took out chunks of their skulls. “So, this hole in his head enables Reverend Orison to help these prisoners escape?” she asked.

“The practitioners of this, found that they could perform certain mental tricks, one of which they called stopping the world.” He finished.

“Well, nobody can stop the world, Mulder. I don’t care how many holes they have in their head.” She said flatly.

“Yeah, but maybe they can alter perception of it, creating a disparate version of reality which they can then project through hypnosis.”

“But why?” She argued, she was really getting sick of this crap. “I mean, even if he could, why?” Why would this man use his powers to let out murderous?

“Donnie Pfaster is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. That’s the final judgement as far as society is concerned, but not in the eyes of God, or in the eyes of a man that thinks he’s God’s tool.”

“Well then if Reverend Orison did mean to kill Donnie Pfaster, then why is he still alive?” She asked poignantly.

“I don’t know.” He replied the coming down from the high he got from working out the puzzle. “Maybe he unleashed something that he couldn’t control. Maybe he thought he was opening the door of perception, but then he unwittingly opened the gates of hell.”

She looked away, hell indeed, and Donnie Pfaster was the devil incarnate. She shook her head to clear yet another image of Pfaster from her mind. She still couldn’t see his theory as belonging anywhere other than a crappy casino’s stage, but she couldn’t come up with anything else to explain it.


	7. Chapter 7

 

March 8 2000 8:00 PM

He had showered and dressed and was now pacing nervously outside her door. He had been a dick all afternoon, ignoring what was obviously important to her. He couldn’t help it, sometimes he got so wrapped up in a mystery he forgot about everything else. He was going to need to work on that if he wanted this relationship to work. Especially with this case, so he had decided to take Scully out tonight and help her take her mind off it.

He knocked on the door, she was still dressed in the outfit she had been wearing all day. He looked into the room and saw the book he had bought her resting on the bed. “Hey Scully.” He said.

“Hey Mulder, I was just thinking about dinner, what do you feel like?” She asked, stepping back to let him enter the room.

“Ah, I, um thought we could go out for dinner, if you wanted.” He said shyly.

“Like a date?” she asked smiling.

He shrugged. “I guess so, if you want it to be.” He had his trademarked half smile on.

She thought for a moment, did it really matter if anyone saw them? She decided that tonight she didn’t care. “That sounds great. Let me get changed.”

He smiled at her as she grabbed out a pair of jeans and a tee from her bag, and laughed as she walked into the bathroom to get changed. “You know I have seen you naked before!” He called out to her.

She ignored him and checked her reflection in the mirror. She had been lying down reading her book for the last hour or so and her hair was mussed and slightly kinked from the way she had been lying on it. She smoothed it down and changed her clothes. They were a little casual for a date, she thought but then again, it had been a long time since she had been asked out, so how was she to know? She gave herself another quick once over in front of the mirror before stepping out into the room.

Mulder had been lying on the bed staring at the ceiling while he waited for Scully, he craned his neck to watch her walk out from the bathroom. There was something so unbelievably beautiful about seeing her in jeans, he could almost picture her walking around a house that the two of them shared with children running around her feet. He blinked the image away, best not to dwell on things that could never be. “You ready?” He asked her standing up.

She grabbed her purse. “Yep.” She replied and they walked out of the room.

****

They had grabbed dinner at a local steak house before taking a walk down Main Street. The dinner had been nice, casual even. But still more like to co-workers who were here on business than an actual date Mulder thought. “Tell me something about yourself.” He said as they strolled together under a streetlight.

“Um, I hate Brussel sprouts.” She replied with a laugh.

“No, tell me something real, something that people don’t know about you.” He said stopping to catch her eyes.

She looked up at him confused, where was this coming from? She felt somewhat uncomfortable with the question, but as she looked into his eyes she reminded herself that she could trust him. “Do you know why I joined the FBI?” She asked him.

He thought about it for a moment, he knew she had given up a promising career in medicine. One that she would have been very successful at when she finished school, and she wasn’t the type of person to quit something because it was hard. “No, actually I don’t.” He replied.

“When I was in med school I had this teacher. A Dr Waterston, Daniel, and he and I were seeing each other.” She said carefully. “We dated for a long time, he was the first person I ever considered, loving.”

Mulder knew it must have ended very badly for Scully to have switched careers because of it. But he couldn’t understand why she looked embarrassed, he knew she had dated teachers before. It wasn’t like she was in high school. It was strange to hear her talking about love, a word that was almost forcibly never brought up by either of them. “And?” he asked gently.

“Well, he always treated me like a student first and a partner second, not that it was a problem. But, it was complicated.” She sighed, why was she telling him about this?

They started walking again. “Its ok Scully, we don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.” He said, moving his hand to his favourite spot in the small of her back.

“No its fine, I don’t know why I’m embarrassed to tell you this.” Her face flushed red and she turned it way from his. “It was complicated because, Daniel was already married.” She said.

Oh, thought Mulder. Never would have guessed that, she had always been a pillar of integrity to him. It was strange to think her capable of that.

“I was young and, just so stupid. Part of me thinks it happened because I knew it was safe, that nothing would ever come of it. Because nothing ever could come of it.” She said rushing though the words like ripping off a band aid.

“So, what happened?” He asked her.

“I was offered a fellowship at a private hospital, a substantial fellowship. I went to tell Daniel about it all excited and I found out that he had organized it for me. I wasn’t offered it on merit, or worth. I was offered it because I was sleeping with my teacher and he had pull. I felt cheapened, and I knew that if I wanted to make something of myself I needed to get out. The next day I applied at Quantico and the rest is history.”

So that moment actually created the integrity in her now, he thought. “And nobody knows that?” He asked her.

She shook her head, her parents didn’t even know her reasons. “Missy knew, but now it’s just you.”

They walked past a small bar, Mulder stopped and gestured to it. “Do you want to get a beer?”

Scully nodded, after spilling her life story like that she could use one.

The bar was dark, but not dirty or dingy, she liked it very much. Mulder headed up to the bar to buy a round and she went in search of a table. She found an empty booth up in the back corner and headed up to secure it. Mulder followed a moment later with the drinks.

“Thanks.” She said as he handed her the beer, he slid into the seat opposite her. “Okay your turn.”

“Me? I am an open book Agent Scully, ask me anything.” He said opening his arms out wide and smiling.

She laughed. “Okay, what’s your favourite colour?”

“Oh, great question. No one ever asks that one over the age of ten.” He teased. “Blue. What’s yours?”

“Green, but not slime green, like deep moss green.” She replied.

“Deep moss green, specific.” He said taking a swig of his beer.

“Shut up Mulder.” She said laughing. “Okay how old were you when you had your first kiss?”

“Twenty seven, his name was Steve.” He joked.

“Mulder!”

“Okay, okay, thirteen with Patty Wilcock, under the bleachers at school. She was terrible.” He said and she laughed again. He love to watch her laugh, her whole face lit up like the most beautiful thing in the world.

“And you?” He asked.

“Oh no, you already got one love story out of me that all you’re getting for now.” She replied.

He threw his hands up to his face in mock horror. “It was me, wasn’t it? Dear Scully, waited to thirty six before being kissed. Just like Drew Barrymore.”

She shot him a look. “You’ve seen Never Been Kissed?” She scoffed.

“What? Drew’s hot.” He said smiling.

She rolled her eyes, men! She thought. “Do you have any quarters?” she asked getting up from the table with her beer.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins. He handed them to her with a curious look. But she just took them and headed over to the Jukebox. She looked at the selection and smiled punching in her song choice. She took another swig and headed to the bar to buy the next round. Mulder walked up behind her. “Music to dance to?” He asked her quietly, his lips pressed into her hair.

She spun around to face him. “Maybe.” She said with a smile. “Tell you what Mulder, you beat me in a game of pool and I’ll dance with you.”

“What if you win?” He asked, she was so close to him he could feel the heat rising from her body.

She reached out and grabbed his arm. “Then we don’t.” She pulled a sad face.

He looked her up and down, she’s so little he wasn’t sure she could reach over the pool table. “You’re on.” He said.

She grinned. “You get the table I’ll get the drinks.”

He headed over to the pool tables on the opposite side of the room, fortunately there was one free. He had just finished setting it up when she walked over. “You want to break?” He asked her.

“No, its fine you can.” She replied taking a sip of her beer.

I have this in the bag, he thought as he selected his cue, she didn’t know that he had played quite well back in collage. He regularly won when he played in bars. He lined up his first shot, and sunk two balls in the break. He smiled as he lined up his next shot. “Corner pocket nothing but net.” He said as the ball sailed into the hole. She clapped with an impressed look on her face. His next shot was more difficult and he missed the pocket by an inch.

“My turn?” she asked reaching out for the cue.

He handed to her trying not to laugh, it looked almost comical watching this tiny redhead wielding the cue that was obviously meant for someone a lot taller than her. She walked around the table studying the balls and angles before finding her shot. It went straight into the pocket, so did the next five. She used her last shot to set up two of the remaining balls to her advantage and handed back the cue.

Mulder stood there dumbfounded clutching his beer. She was already two balls in front of him, he needed to work hard. He lined up his shot and managed to sink one of his balls, the next one was tricky. In order for him to make the shot he needed to get her ball out of the way, he tried to put some spin on the white ball and just nick his ball on the side, but he over calculated sending his and Scully’s ball into the pocket.

“Two shots.” She said grabbing the cue, she didn’t need them. It was all over before he could even finish his beer, and he still had four balls on the table.

“Come on Scully, you sharked me.” He whined.

“You forget, I’m a navy brat. My brothers and I used to play every day in the rec rooms on base.” She reminded him.

“Alright, so no dancing, what do you want to do?” he asked.

“I think, it’s getting kind of late, and I’m tired. I just want to go to bed.” She said.

He nodded. “Yeah, let’s go back to the hotel.” He agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

 

March 9 2000 9:00 AM

Scully was enjoying a cup of coffee, thanks to Mulders efforts last night she was feeling much better about the case. She hadn’t realised how much she needed some time together, since Charlie had moved in she felt like they were drifting apart. Last night made her feel special, wanted, loved? She still didn’t know what that word meant. But it had been nice, and it was fun to whoop his ass in pool.

She looked up from her cup to watch him walk out of the bathroom. “I made you a coffee.” She said gesturing to the cup next to her on the table.

“Thanks.” He replied sitting down next to her and taking a sip. “I want to go and visit the Reverend again this morning.”

“Why? He doesn’t know where Donnie is.” She replied.

“Yeah, but there more to it than that. We were called in to figure out how he got Pfaster and the others out. You’ve heard my theory, now I want to prove it.”

“Do you think he’s just going to tell you that he drilled a hole into his head so that he could hypnotise people better? Come on Mulder, be reasonable.” She said rolling her eyes.

“Scully, this man will do it again if he isn’t brought to justice. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer to keep my criminals behind bars wouldn’t you.” He said staring at her.

“We’ve got him on obstruction at the very least, and aiding and abetting. That with his criminal history should put him away, at least for a while.” She replied.

“Alright, I’ll head out now to start the arrest.” He said standing up.

She stood up and followed him out. “I’m coming with you.”

****

They arrived at the hospital after stopping off and the Marshals office and grabbing the paperwork for the arrest. But when they walked into the Reverends room, he was gone. “Where’d he go?” Asked Scully.

Mulder turned to the Marshal that was sitting in the room staring blankly ahead. “Marshal?” He called. Walking over to the man. “Marshal.” He said again, gently tapping the man’s face.

The Marshal came to startled. “What?” He asked.

“The prisoner, the man you were guarding in this room. What happened to him?” She asked.

Mulder was looking at the man’s now empty gun holster. “He’s gone Scully, so is the Marshals gun.” He stepped back from the man. All the proof they had was in this Orison guy, and now he was gone. Just like every other piece of supernatural proof they have ever gotten, thought Mulder.

The Marshal stood up looking for his weapon. “You didn’t see him?” Asked Scully looking up at the man. But he just looked around the room, presumably for his missing weapon. She gave the room a quick scan too, there was a piece of paper sitting by the bed.

“Let’s go Scully.” Said Mulder defeated.

He started to walk out, but stopped when he saw she wasn’t following, she was walking towards the paper that she had seen.

She picked it up. _Don’t look any further._ Was the only thing written on it. She felt her blood run cold

“What is it?” Asked Mulder.

She held it out to him. “What does this mean?” She asked.

He walked over and looked at it. “Did you tell him?” He asked instantly connecting it with the song that she had been hearing over the past couple of days.

“No, I only told you.” She said shaking her head.

“Oh, he must have overheard us when we were talking in the hallway.” He rationalised.

“I didn’t mention the name of the song.” She said thinking back, she was sure of it.

“I’m sure you did.” Said Mulder trying to relax her. Orison was obviously trying to get into her head.

“No, I’m sure I didn’t, Mulder.” She was panicking now, but she kept her cool exterior.

“Well, maybe this was meant for you. Don’t look any further.” He said and walked away.

“What does that even mean?” She asked catching up with him.

He turned to face her. “It means you should go home Scully, there is nothing more you can do now.” He said taking her shoulders.

She spluttered at him. Go home? Orison has vanished Donnie Pfaster is still on the loose, nothing has been done, and he wants me to go home. “Mulder I have no idea what that message is about, but I know it’s not to give up. We will find the Reverend and we will charge him. Then we can both go home.” She broke away from him and stalked down to the car.

His phone rang. “Mulder.” He answered.

“Hi Agent, its Perkins, you’d better get down here there’s been a development.”

“What development?”

“We had a tip come in about some bodies in the woods, looks like they might be our missing inmates.” Said Perkins.

“We’ll be right there.” Said Mulder and hung up. He ran to catch up with Scully.

****

The Marshals were working out of the local Sheriff’s Office, Mulder and Scully arrived there in record time. “What do we know?” Asked Mulder as they walked through the doors and caught sight of Perkins.

“We have a team out scouting the area from the tip, they should be calling in with conformation any second now.” Said Perkins

“What have you got on the caller that gave you the tip?” Asked Scully.

“Jones team’s working on that.” Replied Perkins pointing to a dark haired man standing near a group of people working on computers.

Scully walked over to Jones leaving Mulder with Perkins. “Deputy Jones? Agent Scully, what can you tell me about the tip.”

“Came in about twenty minute ago from a man, he didn’t leave a name. We traced the number back to a Robert Orison.”

“That’s the man who your Marshals were supposed to be watching.” She said exasperated. “Do you have a recording of the call?”

“Yes Ma’am” Said the Marshal. He tapped on one of the workers shoulders and shortly the recorded call was playing.

Scully felt sick the moment she heard it. “That’s not the Reverend, That’s Pfaster.” She turned and walked back to Mulder.

“Oh, hey Scully we’ve got confirmation. Ready to find our inmates.” He said as she walked up.

She ignored him. “You need to send a team of men over to Orisons place, now. Donnie Pfaster has been hiding out there.” She said to Perkins.

The man paled and quickly rushed off to organise a team. Mulder touched her arm. “You okay Scully?” He asked tenderly.

“I’m fine Mulder, let’s just see this grave.” She replied. She was exhausted, mentally physically and emotionally. She just wanted this all to be over.

He nodded, he could see how weary she looked. They headed back to the car to drive out to this unmarked grave site.

They were halfway there when Mulder pulled over to answer his phone. It was Perkins. He had conformation that one of the bodies was the Reverend. He sighed and hung up.

“Looks like our Reverend is amongst the victims.” Said Mulder.

“Are you sure?” Asked Scully.

“Well, we’ll find out soon.” Said Mulder pulling back onto the road.

When they got to the scene there was already people bustling around putting up crime scene tape and photographing the evidence. They walked through until they came to the open grave they were looking for.

They stared down at the man. “It’s funny, when all is said and done, there’s not much mystery in murder.” Said Mulder

“And for that I owe you an apology, Mulder.” She said turning to face him.

“What do you mean?” he asked her.

“Well, you were right. I was looking too hard for connections that weren’t there.” She replied thinking about the song and the note. Maybe she did say the name in the hall. Maybe it was just a coincidence like Mulder thought. “Orison was a murderer, plain and simple. He liberated those prisoners so he could bring them out here and pass judgement on them.”

“I guess, in his own twisted way. He was making good with his God. Glory, amen. Let’s go home, Scully.” Said Mulder.

“You know, Donnie Pfaster placed the call to the police that led us out here.” she told him. “It’s almost like he’s begging us to hunt him down.” Maybe we should stay and help catch him, she thought. I’m ready, I feel strong enough now.

“This X File is over, lying dead there in a grave he dug himself. Let’s let the U.S. Marshals take over from here.” Said Mulder, she has been through enough, they don’t need us, he thought.

She nodded, half in relief, the other half shame. Cat’s out of the bag now, he’s already decided I’m weak, she thought.

“Don’t look any further, Scully.” He said softly, quoting the song.

She looked at him sharply and then headed back to the car. He followed along behind her stopping to talk to Perkins.

“We’ll send you our report.” He said to the man.

Perkins nodded and went back to the task at hand leaving Mulder to walk back to Scully.

She was sitting in the car, the glazed look in her eyes was back, he noticed and sighed. He got into the car and they headed back into town. She didn’t speak the whole way.

“Are you hungry? We could stop for lunch.” He asked her.

She had been wallowing in her own misery, this case had irrevocably proved that she couldn’t handle this job any more. That she was broken inside and useless. The worst part was, she couldn’t even deny it. She had seen Mulder look at her with pity, that was something she couldn’t handle. “No, if it’s all the same I would just like to go home.” She answered not looking at him.

He nodded and drove them back to the hotel. He wished she wouldn’t beat herself up so much, plenty of good men and women would have broken dealing with the likes of Pfaster. But Scully was the best of them, even after he came after her she still stayed strong. She was incredible, but she was human. He wished she could see that her weakness just made him love her more. She was perfect because she was a whole person, and she made him feel like a whole person.


	9. Chapter 9

March 9 2000 7:00 PM

It had been a long and awkward plane ride back to Washington, she had spent the entire flight wishing she could melt into her seat and disappear, while Mulder continued his attempts at small talk. She was so relieved when he left her at the airport. He hadn’t even asked her if she would like to stay with him, that didn’t surprise her, she was sure he wouldn’t ask her again now that he knew who she really was. She sighed and drove the short distance to her apartment.

She flicked on the lights in her darkened home and shut and locked the door. She thought about having a shower but she was so tired, she headed to the bedroom to change out of her work clothes. Damn, she thought realising that she had left her bag in the car. She was so thankful that Charlie was out of town, she just wanted to be alone. She threw her dirty clothes into the hamper and grabbed out a fresh pair of pyjamas from her draws. After getting dressed she picked up her coat and walked over to her closet, but something caught her eye.

It was her alarm clock, 6:66 it read, again. She moved over to pick it up, but as she did her power suddenly went out. Fear shot through her body and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She looked around the room for an intruder and noticed her closet door was ajar. She knew she had shut it before they left three days ago. She took a deep breath, and then another, she knew what was hiding behind that door. Terrified she reached out to shut it but as she stepped towards it, it swung out hitting her hard. She grunted and fell to the floor.

Pfaster stepped out of the closet as she got to her feet. He grabbed her and shoved her at the wall, hard. She lost her balance and slid down but he was there grabbing at her again, she tried to fight him off but the fear was overwhelming her senses. All of her training flew out the window as he put his hands around her neck and pulled her up the wall.

He was choking her, she felt the panic in her body as it fought to get air. Oh god! He’s going to kill me, she thought. _Concentrate Dana_ , called the voice in her head, _get him off_. She reached up her hands around his neck but she was too weak to break his hold that way. _Use your size to your advantage_ , called the voice again. She moved her hands up over his face and jammed her thumbs in his eyes. He released her and stepped back clutching his face. _You can do this._ She mustered up all of the force she had and threw a punch at his head, he spun round giving her a clear line of sight to her gun, still in its holster sitting on her mirrored dresser.

She ran to it and grabbed it desperately pulling at its holster, she turned around to shoot, as he picked her up and slammed her into the mirror. She felt the glass break against her back and the gun slipped out of her hand. He hit her against the wall again and again, she kicked out with her leg, connecting with her target he dropped clutching himself as she ripped her lamp up and hit him violently over the head with it.

He fell back grasping at the desk, _hit him with as much force as you have over the back of the neck, you need to incapacitate him._ Said the voice in her head, she did as she was told and turned to run. But she hadn’t hit him hard enough, he snatched her leg as she ran. She turned around and kicked him, and then tried again. This time she pushed her heavy book case down on top of him for good measure.

She ran through the house to the phone in her front room and picked it up to dial 911, But Pfaster was right behind her. He picked her up and threw her to the ground on her front. She felt his weight as he sat on her back and pulled her arms painfully behind her. “GO BACK TO HELL!” She shouted as he tied her arms together behind her back.

He twisted her hand up sharply, Scully was sure her wrist would break. “Who does your nails? Girly girl?” Asked Pfaster.

“Let me go! The only reason why you’re alive is because I asked the judge for life.” She shouted at the man. “The only reason why you’re alive is because we didn’t kill you when we could.” If I get out of this I will kill you, she said to herself. I will kill you.

“You’re the one that got away.” Said Pfaster, running his hands down her back. “You’re all I think about.”

She felt sick. “I’m a federal agent, you do anything to me, and they will not give you a break this time.”

“I’m going to run you a bath.” He said.

She screamed, he was going to rape her. He would rape her and murder her and cut of her fingers. His hand clamped down over her mouth.

He shoved a piece of stocking in her mouth tying in place around her neck. Then he dragged her into her ruined bedroom, pulling her into the closet and sitting her up. He crouched down next to her, so close she could feel his vile breath on her skin. She turned her face away in defiance. “Now be good, and don’t cause me any problems.” He said and stood up shutting her into the darkness.

She heard her phone ringing. Mulder! It had to be him. Please help me she thought to herself hoping that he would get the message. She shivered when she heard Pfaster turn on the radio to drown out the phone, it was that song again, playing through her radio, drowning out Mulder’s call.

****

Mulder hung up the phone and rolled over in his bed. He had a strange feeling ever since he got home that something wasn’t right. When he had gone to set his alarm earlier that song that Scully had talked about had been playing. Something wasn’t right, he sat up. He had this ominous feeling that something was wrong. Even if she was sleeping, Scully always answered his call.

He jumped out of bed and ran for the door.

****

She rolled over in the closet and looked out underneath the door, she could see her gun lying on the floor amongst the broken shards of mirror. If she could just get to it. She awkwardly pushed herself against the wall and half slid half pushed herself up the wall. She took a deep breath and tried to listen for Pfaster, but she couldn’t hear anything over the music. She reached for the doorknob with her bound hands desperately hoping he wouldn’t be standing on the other side of the door. She opened it, he wasn’t there. She moved quickly, shutting the door behind her and diving under the bed.

Moments later he walked out of the bathroom and through the bedroom. She held her breath and hoped that she was unnoticed. When he was gone she shuffled her way to the other side of the bed, from here she would be hidden if she stayed low. It was hard work but finally she made it. She rolled out from under the bed and started inching her way towards her gun. She was nearing the end of the bed when she heard the door open. She froze hoping that she was still hidden from view. After waiting to make sure the coast was clear she decided to try and get the bonds off her wrists. She twisted her hands and wriggled at the ties but it was no use, they were too tight and she just couldn’t get any leverage.

She lay there thinking about what her chances of cutting off the ties with a shard of the mirror without accidentally cutting her own wrists were when he came back out and walked out of the room again. Less than a minute later he walked back through to the bathroom. She didn’t know what he was doing, but she had an idea. Oh god, he’s looking for candles. She thought sickly. She remembered the girl that he had picked up from the bus stop, he had decorated the bath tub with candles before he killed her.

She kept a lot of candles in her house, she had liked the smell of them, and the soft way they lit the room. Well, it will keep him busy for a while, she grimly thought. Did she have time to snatch a piece of glass and get back to her hide away before he saw her? She wondered. She shuffled forward another inch, and he stepped out of the bathroom. She closed her eyes and held her breath, hoping he couldn’t see her. She didn’t let it out until she heard his heavy footsteps on the wooden floorboards in the hall. She shuffled back, _you need to get your hands in front of you._ Said the voice in her head.

She twisted her knees up and tried to shove her arms back to reach her feet. It was no good, she couldn’t reach. _Come on try again._ She took a breath and pushed her arms back as far as she could reach. She felt her weight shift to one side and fell on to her left side, landing heavily on her arm. She bit back tears and stopped when she heard the footsteps approaching again. After she heard him enter the bathroom again she managed to flip herself onto her stomach again. _You can do this._ She crawled back up onto her knees, her arm ached fiercely, and tried again. This time she managed to grab at her foot with one hand before losing her grip and falling on her face.

Eventually Pfaster stopped coming back out of the bathroom, and now she could smell the noxious odour of her scented candles blending in together. He was going to come for her soon! She took a deep breath and pushed her arms so far back she thought they might break. But this time she got a good grip on her foot. She pulled and wriggled until she had managed to get the ties over the foot. Then the next one, _keep going_ the voice urged her. With a final pull she was free, well half free. She lifted her arms above her head trying to relax the strained muscled and lay on her back. Just one deep breath was all she allowed herself before flipping on to her stomach to tackle the next problem. Now that she could see her hands she could use a shard of mirror to cut her bonds. She inched forward, and stopped. She could hear him coming out of the bathroom, he moved through the room quickly. As soon as he left she rushed forward, she knew that there wasn’t much time.

She grabbed a large chunk of mirror and kept moving till she reached her gun. Sitting up she quickly cut through the stocking material he had used to bind her hands. The music cut off. He was coming now. She took a deep breath grabbed her gun and stood up. Her head spun for a moment but she ignored it and she walked out to meet her would be killer.

The scene she walked into was not what she expected. Mulder was in her living room pointing his gun at Pfaster. He was shouting something, she couldn’t tell what. The only thing she saw was Donnie as he turned to face her. _He will try again,_ the voice told her. _You have to kill him._ She looked into Pfasters eyes, looking for some kind of humanity in them. But all she saw was evil.

She had already pulled the trigger before she realised what she was doing. She pulled it again, and again even after it was empty she couldn’t stop. Pfaster fell and she looked up to see Mulder. He was looking at her in shock. Oh my God! She thought, realising what she had done. She dropped the gun.

She would have fallen but he caught her, he felt her limp in his arms. He half dragged half carried her over to the couch. After putting her down, he quickly checked her for injuries. She had a bloodied nose and cuts on her arms and neck. He picked some glass out of her hair and smoothed it back. He looked into her eyes, she had started crying. “Shh Scully,” He said holding her. “It’s okay.”

“Mulder?” She whispered. Looking up at him. “What happened?”

How could he begin to tell her what he had just witnessed? He had caught him, and she had killed him, in cold blood. “It’s okay Scully, you’re safe now.” She was shaking in his arms. “Let’s get you cleaned up okay?” He said softly.

She nodded and he lifted her up, half carrying her into the bedroom. He looked around at the destruction of the room, it looked like a tornado had touched down in here. There was broken glass and books everywhere, a lamp sat crumpled up on the floor and her Knick knacks where strewn all around. He grabbed a throw blanket off of the bed and put it around her shoulders. He looked at his partner. She looked a little green. “You okay?” He asked.

She nodded. “The smell.” She said pointing to the bathroom.

He sat her down on the bed and moved over to the window, opening it to get the smell of the scented candles out of the room. Then he opened the door to the bathroom. There must have been fifty candles in there, resting on every surface. The tub was full and still had an unbroken layer of bubbles on top. He walked around the room blowing out the candles, when he was done he headed back to Scully.

“We need to call this in now.” He said softly brushing his hand along her cheek. “Are you ready?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything. He reached over to grab the phone from the bedside table.

She sat there numbly as he called the police, I killed him, she thought, I really killed him. She blinked hard hoping that this was all just a terrible nightmare. But it was real.

After he got off the phone Mulder, pulled Scully up and out into the kitchen where she didn’t have to see the devastation that had happened in her apartment that night. When they got to the room Scully reached out and took his hand. He pulled her into a hug, holding her so close he couldn’t tell where they met. They stayed there like that until the police arrived.

“Agent Mulder?” Asked the detective as he walked into the apartment.

Mulder released Scully and they walked over to meet the detective.

“Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, I’m Detective Franks. I know you’ve been through a lot tonight, but I’m going to need some statements before I can release you.” He said kindly.

They nodded to the man. “Whatever you need.” Said Mulder.

Franks nodded. “Agent Scully, I’m going to have one of my Detectives and the EMT’s check you over. Would you mind?” He asked waving at a female police officer and two medical staff.

“No, that’s fine.” She said quietly.

The female officer walked over. “Agent Scully, I’m Detective Williams. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” She replied.

“Okay, well, we just want to check you out so we can write up the report, is there somewhere quiet we can do that? Somewhere you can sit down?” She asked softly.

Scully nodded and directed them to Charlie’s room. Mulder watched them walk into the room and shut the door.

“So, can you tell me what happened?” Asked Detective Franks.

Mulder turned to face the man. “I was concerned for Agent Scully’s safety when I couldn’t reach her on the phone, so I drove over here. When I arrived I found the deceased, Pfaster, in the living room. I went to apprehend him when Scully walked out of the room. He lunged at my partner and she shot him.”

Franks nodded writing in his note pad. “Any idea what went on before you got here?” He asked.

“Pfaster is a convicted murderer who escaped from prison days ago, he was obsessed with my partner.” Said Mulder.

“So, in your opinion he came here to hurt or kill your partner?” Asked Franks.

“He most certainly would have killed her.” Replied Mulder.

“So it was self-defence?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, do you have a number I can reach you on if I have any more questions?” Asked Franks.

“You can reach me, or Agent Scully at the Bureau.” He said.

He took a deep breath, he had just lied for her, and he would do it again in a heartbeat. He heard the door to Charlie’s room open and turned to see Scully walk out. “Excuse me.” He said to the detective and followed her up to her bedroom.

She had already walked in and closed the door by the time he got there so he opened it and walked in. she was standing by the window. “If you want to pack somethings, we can get out of here.” There was no way she was staying here tonight.

“Yeah.” She said softly opening her draws. He moved up behind her, not wanting to be too far away from her. She didn’t mind, mostly she just wanted to fall into his arms and never leave them again. She looked down into the draw, the Bible she always kept at the end of the bed was sitting there on top of the clothes. She pulled it out, it felt heavy in her arms. She was a murderer now.

“You can’t judge yourself.” Said Mulder looking into her eyes.

She scoffed and turned to move back and sit on the end of the bed. “Maybe I don’t have to.” She said turning the book over in her hands.

“The Bible allows for vengeance.” He said, he knew how important her religion was to her and he wouldn’t want her to feel like she was unworthy of her faith, now of all times.

“But the law doesn’t.” She said turning her head to look up at him, she had told the detective that she had shot Pfaster. She had told her the truth, that she didn’t know how it had happened. Only that she had been holding the gun, and she had shot him.

“The way I see it.” Said Mulder, leaning down next to her. “He didn’t give you a choice.” He caught her eyes. “And my report will reflect that. In case you’re worried. Donnie Pfaster would’ve surely killed again if given the chance.”

She shook her head. “He was evil, Mulder. I’m sure about that, without a doubt. But there’s one thing that I’m not sure of.”

“What’s that?” He asked.

“Who was at work in me?” She replied. “Or what, what made me….. What made me pull the trigger?”

“You mean if it was God?”

“I mean…. What if it wasn’t?” she thought about that voice in her head, the one that had told her to kill him. Would god ask her to do that?

Mulder shook his head. “You can’t think like that, Scully. Do you believe that what you did was wrong? That it was evil?”

“I don’t know.” She replied.

“Do you think you’re like him? Your evil?” He pressed.

“No, I’m not like him.” She said firmly.

“Then you have nothing to fear, evil only works if you let it. You saved yourself, and countless other women. How could that be evil?” he reached out and brushed her face.

She closed her eyes and turned into his hand. “I just want to get out of here.”

“Okay, where’s your travel bag?” He asked.

“Oh.” She remembered. “It’s still in the car.”

“Great, grab your jacket we will pick it up on the way out.”

 


	10. Chapter 10

March 10 2000 9:52 AM

Mulder slips out of the covers as soundlessly as he can, it had been a rough night for the petite redhead still sleeping in the bed. It had taken hours for her to feel safe enough to close her eyes, and then she had been plagued with nightmares. She finally fell into a deep sleep a couple of hours ago and he didn’t want to wake her.

He crept out of the room and walked over to the coat Scully had left discarded on the couch the night before. He reached into the deep pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Scrolling through the contacts he found the number he was looking for. He hit call and listened to the ring.

“Hello.” Said Charlie sleepily.

“Hey Charlie, its Mulder.”

“Oh hey Mulder. What’s up?” Replied the young Scully.

“Well, if it’s not too much trouble I was hoping you could cut your New York trip short, there was an incident at Scully’s place last night and I was hoping to get your help.” Said Mulder nervously.

“Is Dana alright?” Asked Charlie worriedly.

“Yeah, she’s fine. I can explain everything when you get here, can you come?” he said.

“Alright, that shouldn’t be a problem, I will drive up today. I should get home tonight.” Said Charlie.

“Great, call me before you get here, let me give you my number.” He waited for Charlie to get a pen and rattled off his number before hanging up.

He quietly slipped Scully’s phone back into her coat and found his own, he had one more call to make.

****

Around an hour later, Scully stirred and woke from her dream. It was the same dream she had almost every night since her birthday. She and Mulder were dancing in a beautiful ballroom and he pulled her aside to tell her something. But she always woke up before he could.

She rolled over and opened her eyes, he was sitting up in the bed reading a book. He glanced down at her. “Hey sleepy head how are you feeling?”

She paused taking inventory of her swollen muscles and aches and pains. The damage wasn’t too bad, she thought. Her lip still stang a little from a small cut on the side of it, and she felt stiff all over. But all things considered it could have been a lot worse. “I’m okay.” She responded hoarsely. Her throat was scratchy from the shouting last night, and probably from the crying.

“Do you want me to make you a coffee?” Asked Mulder reaching down to stroke her face.

She shook her head and reached her arms around to circle him. She just wanted to stay in bed basking in the warmth of his skin and the comfort of his presence. They stayed together like that for some time. Until the need to expel her bladder forced her up and out of the bed with a groan.

When she walked back into the room he was gone. “Mulder?” She called walking out into his small cosy living room. She could see him standing in the kitchen mixing something in a bowl.

“I figured you were hungry, so I’m making omelettes.

She felt her stomach rumble in reply and tried to think when the last time she had eaten anything substantial. “That sounds good.” She said perching on her favourite bar stool to watch him work.

When are we due back at work?” she asked him as he effortlessly flipped the mass of eggs.

He paused. “Monday I guess, but only if you’re ready.” He said cautiously. He glanced over to her.

“I’m fine Mulder, I’m just glad it’s over now.” She had been going over what had happened in her head, and had decided she refused to feel bad about what she had done. Mulder was right, he most certainly would have killed again. Why should she feel remorse for killing a man who had hurt her and others without compunction? It just made her feel angry, she pushed it aside refusing to let him affect her any more.

Mulder plated up the food and they ate in a reserved silence. After lunch Scully moved to wash up, he moved to argue but was distracted by a knock on the door. He opened it allowing the trio of unlikely friends to walk in.

“Hey Mulder.” Said Frohike. He had stopped in the doorway while Byers and Langly had headed for the living room to set up the PlayStation they had brought with them. He turned to take in Scully as she stood by the sink, her hands submerged in the water. “Agent Scully.” He said with a mock bow.

“Hey Hickey.” She said with a smile shooting a look of annoyance at Mulder. “I didn’t know you were stopping by today.” She felt uncomfortable with the boys here and her dressed in her pyjamas.

“Yeah well, we have a new game we thought Mulder might like to check out so we figured we’d pop in.” They had been given strict instructions by Mulder not to bring up what happened last night, when he phoned to invite them over.

She nodded, removing her hands from the soapy water and drying them on a towel. “I’m going to get changed.” She said and headed into his bedroom where her overnight bag was still sitting by the foot of the bed.

Frohike couldn’t help notice as he looked past her that the sheets were rumpled and it looked like she had slept in there. He didn’t get much of a chance to see if perhaps Mulder had slept in there too as she quickly closed the door. He flicked him a curious look, but Mulder ignored him.

A few moments later she left the room dressed in a pair of jeans and a white tee shirt, she had run a brush through her hair and after eating, looked a lot healthier and happier. “So what are we playing?” She asked the Gunmen.

“We bought or a bunch, what would you like?” Asked Byers holding up a bag filled with games.

She grabbed the bag and went through the games inside. The boys tried not to sigh when she pulled out Crash Bandicoot. She could see the disappointment in their faces, but she hope they would see how little interest in first person shooter games she had, she got enough of that at work.

They settled in, Mulder and Scully sitting next to each other on the couch Byers sitting next to them, Frohike took the chair by the desk and Langly sat on the floor. Mulder had to make a conscious effort not to put his arm around her, as it was they were sitting so close together their arms brushed every time they moved.

It wasn’t long before Scully relaxed and started to enjoy the company, the boys were happy to let her play, shooting bits of advice and jokes as she made her way through the levels. Mulders presence was a calming one, it felt nice to feel him by her side. They played for hours, she only relinquished control once after several failed attempts at a boss level. Langly blitzed it for her and dutifully handed the controller back, stating that it was more fun to watch her play.

It had just gotten dark outside and Frohike had moved to the kitchen to cook everyone some dinner when Mulder got a phone call. She thought it was strange how he answered and hurried out of the room, who could he be talking to that he didn’t want her to overhear? He walked back into the room after hanging up but before she could ask him about it he had disappeared into the bedroom. The TV flashed black, she had been so distracted by Mulder’s behaviour that she had walked into a TNT box. By the time the level had reset Mulder was walking out of the room, he had changes out of his sweats and old shirt into some jeans.

He looked at her guiltily. “I have to duck out for a while, but I won’t be long.”

“Where are you going?” She asked putting the controller down and standing up.

“I just have to take care of something, it’s nothing I’ll explain later, the boys will keep you company while I’m gone.” He said walking over to the door.

Scully followed him. “Mulder.” She said warily.

He turned to face her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Scully, its fine. I promise I will explain when I get back okay? Trust me.”

She stared into his eyes, trying to find some glimmer of untruth. But all she saw was a deep caring, and something else. Something that made her belly flip and her heart pound. She swallowed pushing the feeling down. “Alright, call me if you need me.”

He wanted to lean down and kiss her, but right in that moment he was aware of three sets of eyes all trained on him. He looked up to see Byers and Langly still in the living room. Byers face was pink and Langly looked confused. He turned his eyes to the left, into the kitchen and caught sight of Frohike grinning like the Cheshire cat. He sighed and turned to the door, walking out without looking back.


	11. Chapter 11

 

March 10 2000 8:30 PM

Mulder pulled up across the street from Scully’s apartment and turned off the car. He looked out of the window to the U Haul truck that was parked out front. That must be Charlie, he thought. He got out and walked over to the truck, it was empty.

“Damn Charlie, I told you to wait.” He said to himself before rushing up to the door of building.

He quickly pulled out his keys and entered the building, taking the stairs to Scully’s floor two at a time. When he reached the third floor landing he ran to her door, it was wide open. He could see Charlie standing inside staring at the pool of dried blood on the floor.

“Charlie.” He said startling the man.

Charlie turned to face Mulder with a look of horror on his face. “Mulder, where’s my sister?”

“She’s fine, she’s at my place with some friends. It’s not her blood.” He replied calmingly.

“Not her blood….. What the fuck happened here?” Shouted Charlie.

Mulder walked in the apartment closing the door behind him. “Calm down.” He said taking the terrified redhead by the arm and leading him to the dining room to sit down. “Sit down, I’ll tell you everything.”

Charlie sat, the fear was starting to subside and now he could feel the rage building up in him. How dare Mulder keep this from me! How dare he not let me see my sister! Who did he think he is?

“I wanted you to wait until I got here before coming in, so I could explain what happened.” Started Mulder.

“Well, I’m here now, get to explaining. You can start with whose blood that is.” Shot Charlie.

“It’s a man by the name of Donald Pfaster’s, he came here last night and attacked Scully. They fought and she shot, and killed him.”

Charlie sat back in his chair. “Dana, killed someone. Here? In this apartment?” He couldn’t believe it. She was so little. “And where were you?” He asked accusingly.

“I got here just as she shot him. I’m sorry Charlie, I never should have left her alone with Pfaster out there, I didn’t think.” Said Mulder guiltily. He felt awful, he should have protected her.

Charlie shook his scruffy curls. “Who was that guy? Why did he attack Dana?”

“He was a sick man, Scully and I helped put him away five years ago. But he escaped prison and came after her.”

“And you left her alone? If you knew he was coming after her, why would you do that?”

Mulder bowed his head in shame. “I didn’t know, I read him wrong. I thought she was safe, I had no idea he was obsessed with her.”

Charlie took a deep breath, he was still furious at Mulder. But Dana was alive, and safe. “What do we do now?”

“I was hoping you could help me clean up, I don’t want Scully to have to come home to that.” He said gesturing to the dark pool. “And I thought she would want family around.”

That shocked the man more than anything else Mulder had said. Didn’t he know how much Dana needed him? Sure she hadn’t really been forthcoming with him about her feelings, but he was her brother, he didn’t expect that. But surely she had told Mulder how she felt. And even if she hadn’t how could he not know? When the two of them were together it was like the rest of the world just slid out of focus. Charlie shook his head, sometimes Mulder was as brick headed as his sister. “Let’s get started I guess.”

They worked hard on clearing up all the shattered glass and broken Knick knacks from Scully’s bedroom floor. Mulder noticed the Bonsai tree he had given her for her birthday had survived the carnage, safe on her bedside table. Charlie had run down to his rental truck and grabbed out a large mirror of his to replace the one that had been broken. Before too long the room was back to its immaculate self.

The bloodstain in the living room was harder. They tried soaking it in chemicals and scrubbing it hard. But even after a solid twenty minutes of scrubbing, the light pink pool was still visible on the floorboards. Another trip to Charlie’s truck found a suitable rug to cover up the damage, and they both agreed that short of replacing the floor it was the best they could do.

They stood up, backs aching from the labour and headed into the kitchen for some iced tea. Mulder glanced at the clock, it was almost eleven. He knew that he wouldn’t have much time before Scully started calling to find out where he was. He took a long swallow of the sweet drink and put it down on the bench. “I guess I should go get your sister.”

Charlie looked at the clock. “It’s getting pretty late, why don’t you wait until the morning. That will give her more time to get used to the place before she goes to bed anyway.”

Mulder nodded, the younger Scully made sense. “Well, I should be getting back to her anyway. Who knows what kind of stories the Gunmen have been telling her while I’ve been out.”

Charlie laughed. He had met the Gunmen a few weeks ago when they had come by to do their usual sweep. He had liked the strange little men. They had some good points with their conspiracy theories, and he felt safer knowing they were checking his house. “Alright, tell the boys I said hi.” He joked.

Mulder nodded and headed for the door. He turned as he opened the door. “Are you going to be alright?” He asked.

Charlie looked at the man surprised, he hadn’t expected Mulder to care about how he felt. “I’ll be fine, I mean it’s a little freaky, but I’ll live.”


	12. Chapter 12

 

March 10 2000 11:20 PM

As Mulder approached his front door he could hear laughter bubbling out, more specifically Scully’s laughter. He smiled, glad the Gunmen had been able to distract her for a few hours. He opened the door.

“And it was a dog the whole time?” Laughed Scully.

“Yeah, Mulder had spent the better part of the day chasing after Sasquatch only to find out that instead of a hulking beast. A cute little Pomeranian had been the cause of the damage.” Replied Frohike.

Mulder cursed internally, of course they were telling her stories about his stupid mistakes on early X Files. “All right enough of that.” He said striding into the room.

Scully was in the middle of the couch wedged between Frohike and Byers, Langly had taken the office chair and was lazily swinging round on it. She looked up to see Mulder and promptly burst into another fit of laughter. “Oh Mulder, you were so cute back then.” She said between bursts.

Mulder shrugged, pretending to be annoyed. “Okay boys, hit the road before you tell her all my embarrassing stories.” He joked gesturing his thumb towards the door.

The Gunmen stood up to leave, saying their goodbyes to Scully. Frohike came to stand near Mulder. “Muldy, can I talk to you for a sec?” He asked quietly.

Mulder looked at the man and followed him out the front door. When the door was closed he turned to his friend. “What’s up Hickey?”

“I’m not going to pretend to know what’s going on between you and Agent Scully.” He started.

Mulder opened his mouth to protest but Frohike waved him off. “Just listen. I don’t know what’s happening between you two, but its clear your more than just friends. Let me make this clear, Mulder you are one of my best friends. But if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and kill you. That beautiful young woman has been through enough pain already, so if you aren’t serious about her stop now, before it gets too deep.”

Mulder had listened carefully to his best friend and now he stared down at the smaller man intently. “I am more serious about her than I have ever been with anything in my life.” He said simply.

Frohike nodded, and then broke into a large grin. He clapped Mulder on the back. “About time.” He said and walked away.

Mulder stood in the hall watching him catch up with the other Gunmen in the elevator, thinking about what he had said. He was serious about Scully, and he would make it his mission to never let her get hurt as long as she kept him around. If only she was serious about him.

He opened the door to find Scully standing on the other side. “What was that about?” She asked putting her hands on her hips.

Mulder smiled and pulled her into a hug. “I think we are well and truly busted when it comes to the Gunmen. Hickey just gave me the big brother speech on hurting you.”

She laughed. “Yeah that may have been my fault.”

Mulder pulled back to look into her eyes. “How so?”

She broke eye contact looking down at her feet. “They told me that you gave them your porn collection. I may have reacted unexpectedly.” She said slowly.

Mulder laughed. “What did you do?”

Scully sighed and moved over to the couch and sat down. Mulder followed and sat next to her, his hand resting on her thigh. “Well, Langly made a joke that he must have been seeing someone, and I went bright red and may have choked on my drink a little.” Mulder let out a deep chuckle picturing Scully in that moment. “Shut up, it’s hard to keep your cool when you’re coughing up soda.”

“It’s fine Scully, that is, as long as it’s okay with you?” He said trying to catch her eyes.

She thought for a moment, the Gunmen knowing about them wasn’t too bad, after all Charlie and Ellen knew. It was only fair that Mulder’s friends knew too. “I don’t mind.” She said finally, smiling up at him.

Baby steps, thought Mulder. He had already decided that there would never be anyone else for him except her. But with Scully finally acknowledging their relationship to others, he had hope that one day she would feel as much for him as he did for her.

Little did he know how much Scully care for him. It still frightened her, she genuinely though herself incapable of feeling love. At least in that way, but it scared her less every day. “Come on, it’s late and I’m tired.” She said standing up and pulling him into the bedroom.

 

The End


	13. Chapter 13

 

_Scully tossed and turned in her darkened room, she felt hot, like she was boiling. She struggled against the thick heavy blankets that swirled around her. She had to get them off her, she couldn’t breathe. She tried to calm her panicked mind as she sought the edge of the blanket. She probed and pulled until, finally, she found the end. With a great pull, she wrenched back the covers that had her trapped in the bed. The sight that she uncovered made her blood run cold._

_Thousands of candles lined every available space in her room. Each tiny flame came together flickering against the darkness to create a wave of sickening light that was too bright and too dark at the same time. Dark clouds of smoke hovered on the edges of her vision and the smell of burning wax choked her lungs. She gasped in horror and called out for Mulder. But she was alone in the large bed. She crawled to the edge of the bed and tentatively stepped onto the floor, cautiously stepping between the candles. Her bare feet burning against the hot wax that had dripped onto the floor._

_She didn’t make a sound as she slowly crept from the room, scared of whatever demons still lurked in the dark recesses. As she approached the door to the room her heart pounded rapidly in her chest, just two more steps and she was there. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for what was on the other side of the door. Slowly she turned the handle._

_The door swung outwards and she squinted into the darkness that lay beyond. There was no telling what she would find in the darkness but if she did not leave soon the flames would surely consume her. She took a step, and then another. The further away from the candlelit room she went the calmer she felt. Suddenly the door behind her slammed shut, the noise startling her before leaving her in total darkness. She put her hands out to help guide her way and shuffled through the black room hoping to find a light._

_“You’re all I ever thought about girly girl.” Said a whisper in her ear._

_She twisted towards the voice hitting out with her arms, but she only found air. It can’t be! She thought. And then the voice came again. “Five long years, and you’re all I ever wanted.” It said as it danced around in the nothing._

_“You’re dead.” She spat. “I killed you.”_

_She felt a tickle in her hair, like spiders, or long slender fingers were running softly through it. She shook her head violently, bile rising up into her throat. “You’re not real!”_

_“You’re the one that got away, but you won’t get away this time.” Called the voice. Fingers pawed on her pyjamas and she spun around lashing out. She found nothing._

_It’s not real, she thought. It can’t be, it’s not real, you’re dreaming. “You can’t hurt me anymore.” She called her voice wavering from fear._

_“Oh, I can always hurt you girly girl. We’re the same now, I live inside you. You let me in, and now you have to pay.”_

_She screamed and ran into the never ending darkness. She ran for what seemed like hours, she ran until the air in her lungs burnt like fire. She thought the darkness would never end, until suddenly she could see an outline of a door. She rushed towards it ripping the door open and running in. When she looked up she saw she was back in her bedroom, the dripping candles still covering the room. She screamed in frustration, slamming her hands down on her legs. You have to wake up Dana. She told herself._

_She was still doubled over panting when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up towards the bed. Mulder! He was lying in the bed. She ran to him, knocking over the candles as she went and climbed up onto the bed._

_“Mulder!” She cried embracing him. She stayed there half crouched on the impossibly large bed clutching him into her arms. She tried to take in as much of him as she could, the soft smoothness of his skin. The scratchiness of his five o’clock shadow. The smell of his aftershave. Anything she could do to take her mind of the horror of the room._

_“Scully?” He said as he pulled her away to stare into her eyes. “Why?” He asked._

_She looked at him confused and watched him cough up bright red blood. She lunged back trying to find the cause. He had six bullet holes in his chest, blood seeped out of them. “Mulder! What happened? Who did this?” She asked him._

_He held her by the shoulders looking deep into her eyes, his eyes spoke of a sadness and despair deeper than she had ever seen before. He took a ragged breath and spoke. “You.”_

_She shook her head and looked down into her hands. Her right hand held the still smoking gun that she owned. “No!” She cried throwing the weapon down._

_He fell back into the bed, instantly soaking the sheets crimson. In vain she tried to plug the ragged holes in his chest with her hands, but it was no use, he was already gone._

_She sat back, staring at her blood-soaked hands. “No. No. NO!” she cried._

_“We are the same.” Called the voice from the shadows._

_“No! I’m nothing like you! I would never hurt him.” she screamed back._

_“You would. You liked it.” Taunted the voice._

_Its owner stepped out of the shadows and she finally saw the face of pure evil. It looked like a demon of hell, black eyes and horns. “You will be just like me.” It said._

_No! She thought. I’m not you, I will never be you. She turned and launched herself off the bed and onto the monster, scratching and clawing at it. “I am not like you!” She cried._

_The monster laughed a deep and ominous laugh._

Scully opened her eyes. She was tucked up in Mulder’s bed. She let out a soft sigh of relief. That was the second time she had been visited by that nightmare, and she knew it would visit for a long time to come. At least she hadn’t woken Mulder, she thought as she rolled over to stare at the sleeping man.

The sun was just peeking through the curtains and she could make out the soft curve of his lips. He looked so peaceful sleeping, childlike even. Like all of the weight he carried was gone. She inched closer, feeling the warmth of his bare skin against hers. She slung her arm around his chest resting her chin in the soft cleft between his ribs. He smiled lazily in his sleep and wrapped his arm around her but didn’t wake. She took the opportunity to study the man who had become her life.

Was she capable of hurting him? No, it was just a dream. She tried to think about when he had become so important to her, when had she decided that he meant more to her than anything. It had been such a gradual thing she could remember ever consciously choosing it. It scared her a little, the strength of her feelings for him. Only because it felt so out of her control, she chose to stay with him. But did she choose to love him?


	14. Chapter 14

 

March 12 2000 6:15 AM

 

Mulder woke to see a pair of bright blue eyes staring up at him. “Good morning” He said with a smile.

“Hi.” She replied. And rolled over. “Coffee?”

“Hold on.” He said pulling her back into his arms. “Did you sleep?” He murmured softly.

Scully blinked back tears, thinking about her dream. “A little.” She responded quietly.

Mulder kissed the top of her head. “Good, I have a surprise for you.”

She looked up at him. “Pancakes?” She guessed smiling.

He chuckled. “No, but I can make them if you want.”

“Yes please.” She replied and tilted her head up to kiss him. As soon as their lips met she felt a surge of heat through her body. He was alive, and he made her feel alive. She brought her hand up to caress his hair, and he tightened his grip on her waist. She broke the kiss breathing heavy. “So, pancakes?” She whispered looking into his eyes.

“They can wait.” He replied pulling her back to meet him.

****

An hour later Scully stepped out of the shower. She could smell the sweet scent of the pancakes and coffee coming from the kitchen. She grabbed her towel and dried off, before fetching her moisturiser from the cupboard under the sink. It was yet another item that had found its way permanently into his home. She couldn’t remember if she had forgotten it one day and just bought a new one for home, or if she had left it there on purpose. But it was here now, and here it would stay.

She rubbed the lotion on her skin and combed her wet hair back into a scrunchie. Then she picked up her favourite tee shirt to throw on and headed out to meet Mulder in the kitchen.

He looked up as she walked over. “Good timing, their almost done.” He said and handed her a coffee. He had put on an old and ripped pair of sweats that he used for pyjamas now, his top was still bare.

Scully looked him up and down, reliving the feeling of his bare chest she had felt not long before. “Good, I’m hungry.” She replied.

He served her up a plate of the fluffy pancakes and made some for himself. She was a little thrown when he pulled out lemon juice from the fridge.

“You put lemon on pancakes?” She asked him.

“Oh Scully, you haven’t lived until you try this.” He exclaimed dowsing the cakes in the juice. He reached over to the sugar container on the bench and spooned out the white granules onto the top of the juice. Then he cut a small piece off and held it up for her to try.

It was strange, sweet and sour at the same time. She wrinkled her nose and he laughed. “It’s okay, I’ll get the maple syrup.”

After breakfast he asked her to change while he showered. Once she had put on her pant suit, which was the only clean item left in her go bag, she wandered around the bedroom. Mulder was a lot messier than she was, he left clothes piled on the floor at the foot of the bed and books lay open on the floor. But he also kept keepsakes along his dresser and photos on the wall. There was a little league baseball trophy sitting at the back of the dresser with a layer of dust over it. As well as a photo of his family smiling up at the camera. They all looked so happy, and he looked so young, they had no idea of what was to come in the future. In front of the picture was a small plastic bracelet that a young girl might wear. Scully knew who that would belong to, so she didn’t touch it. Next to it she found something that surprised her. It was a post it note, the edges of it curled slightly like it had lost the will to stick. She reached down and picked it up. **_My house 7pm?_** It read in her handwriting. It was the note she had given him on their first day back at work in the New Year. She smiled, she couldn’t believe he kept that.

She heard the shower turn of and put it back down. A minute later Mulder walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. She moved to sit on the bed as he dressed. “So, where are we going?”

Mulder steeled himself as he pulled on a tee from his clean washing pile. “Your place, you’re out of clothes and we go back to work tomorrow, I figured you would want to go.”

She blinked, she hadn’t thought about home. It was stupid to think that she could just stay here, after all, she didn’t live here, and Charlie would be back soon. But it had just been so wonderful the last day or so, it had completely dropped her mind, the horrors she would have to go home to. She gulped. “Okay, your right. I should go.” She said not making eye contact.

Mulder walked over to the bed and cupped her jaw with his hand, pulling her face up to meet his eyes. “Scully, I don’t want you to go. I just thought you might need some stuff. You can stay here as long as you want.”

Why did he have to be so sweet when I’m weak? She thought. “I’m fine Mulder, I’ll be fine.” She said shaking him off.

Mulder stepped back and grabbed his running shoes and a pair of clean socks. He walked out to the lounge to put them on, mentally kicking himself. He tried to think about how he could have worded that differently, whether he should have told her that he and Charlie had cleaned it up for her. He sighed, it didn’t matter how he had said it, there was nothing that was going to make this any easier.

Scully was mostly silent on the twenty minute drive back to her place. She couldn’t shake the nightmare she had woken to, and she was irrationally frightened to come home and find her bedroom covered in candles. She knew it wouldn’t be that bad, but she would still have to clean up all those candles in the bathroom. She didn’t even know what it would look like, Mulder had blown them all out so she didn’t have to see it. It was time, she thought. Pfaster is dead now, he couldn’t hurt her anymore. But still she couldn’t keep the feeling of dread out of her mind.

Mulder glanced over at Scully for the fifth time that minute, she was staring straight ahead and seemed completely oblivious to his presence. He hoped he had made the right call, getting Charlie home early and cleaning up her apartment for her. It might make things easier, but she might also take it as an invasion of space and privacy. There was no real way of knowing until they got there. He tried to tell himself that he did the right thing, but even so, he could shake the feeling of dread from his gut.

With heavy hearts they stepped out of the car after Mulder pulled up at the front of her building. He walked around to meet her and she reached out and took his hand. With a deep breath they walked into the building and up the stairs.

Her hand shook slightly as she unlocked the door, but the sight that she saw inside made her heart swell. There was no trace of the damage left from her attack. Charlie walked in from the kitchen and Scully let go of Mulder’s hand to walk over and embrace her brother. “When did you get back?” She asked surprised.

“Last night, Mulder called me.” He replied.

Mulder looked down at his shoes when Scully turned to look at him. “And you did all this?” She asked.

“Well, Mulder and I. he came by last night and we cleaned it up. You shouldn’t have to come home to that.” Said Charlie.

Scully looked around the room, there was a rug on the floor where Pfaster had been shot. She supposed they couldn’t get all the blood out, but the rug looked nice, like it had always been there. “Thank you.” She said, tear welling up in her eyes.

She kissed her brother on the cheek and walked over to Mulder, taking his hand in hers. “That’s where you went yesterday? To do this?”

He nodded shyly, still not sure she wouldn’t be mad. She reached up on her toes and kissed him softly on the lips. “Thank you.” She whispered in his ear.

Mulder looked up at Charlie to see if the kiss had shocked him. But the taller Scully just smiled at him. Well I guess the cats completely out of the bag now, he thought smiling back at the man.

“We replaced you mirror with one of mine, but if you don’t like it we can go shopping to buy you a new one.” Said Charlie.

Scully, still holding Mulder’s hand walked into the bedroom. Apart from the new mirror, you would never know what had taken place in here just two days earlier. The room looked immaculate, just like always. There were fresh sheets on the bed, and her Knick knacks were even back in the right position. She turned to look at Mulder. “How did you do all this.” She said sweeping her arm around the room.

“Crazy glue and a good memory.” He joked.

She smiled up at him. It unnerved her a little how much attention he paid, the fact that he could correctly place all of her things back in the right places. But that’s what you get for having an eidetic memory. She took a breath and walked towards the bathroom, the door was shut. She reached down and opened it, stepping into the small room.

There was no trace of the candles, and there was a smell in the air of bleach or strong cleaning agents. The room looked spotless. Charlie had come up through the door that led to his bedroom. “We threw out all the candles, we thought you wouldn’t want to keep them now.” He said.

She nodded weakly. “Thank you.” She said and turned to leave the room. It would still be a long time before she could go in this room without her skin crawling.

They walked back into the kitchen and Charlie put on a pot of coffee.

“I should go, let you guys catch up.” Said Mulder awkwardly. He was glad that Scully wasn’t mad at him, but now he just felt out of place.

Scully tightened her grip on his hand. She didn’t want him to leave, she knew it was silly but she felt so much safer having him here.

Charlie had seen the fleeting look of panic on his sister’s face before she had managed to push it down. “Stay for lunch at least. I’d like to catch up with you too. We didn’t get much of a chance to yesterday.”

Mulder looked at the older Scully and gave her hand a squeeze. “As long as you want.” He replied.


End file.
